^^.^^ 


'^^^    \il5^^'^:: 


■  REESE  LIBRARY  ^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

^Accessions  No.(,  / ^/ /  .     Chiss  No.   ^0^"^: 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/beofgoodcheerwitOOmooarich 


^^^     OF  THE  '^ 

XJNIVERSITT 


^    -/T:^:; 


^e  af  ^oatl  ^l|eer 


Other  Sermons  of  Encouragemen' 


GEORGE     MOOAR 


:^5^^ 


OF^mSr 


XJNIVERSITT 
CALIFORNIA- 


SAN   FRANCISCO: 
CuBEEY   &   Co.,    Electbic    Poweb    Pbint] 
415  Market  St.,  just  below  First. 


(^(^11 


NOTE. 


These  sermons,  solicited  for  publication  by  members  of 
my  latest  pastoral  charge,  have  been  selected  under  the 
guidance  of  a  suggestion  made  by  a  former  parishioner 
and  friend  who,  several  years  ago,  remarked,  "  My  experi- 
ence leads  me  to  think  that  most  people  in  our  churches 
need  a  great  deal  of  encouragement." 

The  author  of  these  sermons,  it  may  be  proper  to  add, 
was  bom  in  Andover,  Mass.,  May  27,  1830 ;  pastor  of  the 
South  Church,  in  his  native  town,  1855-61  ;  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church,  Oakland,  Cal.,  1861-72  ;  and  of  the 
Plymouth  Avenue  Church,  in  the  same  city,  1874-89. 

By  reason  of  the  kindly  appreciation  of  his  hearers  in 
these  three  parishes,  he  has  had  often  occasion  to  thank 
God  and  take  courage.  y'^^'^^   LIB/i^j^ 

Pacific  Theological  Seminary,         V/^  ^  R  S I T  Y 

May  27,  1889.  ^^^gAUFORN]^ 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
I. 

Be  of  Good  Cheeb,  - 9 

II. 

The  Sensitive  Veracity  of  Jesus,     -        -        -        -      25 

III. 

The  Unappropriated  Good,        -  -        -        -      41 

IV. 

Another  Comforter,         -        -  -        -        -         57 

V. 
Thirty  Years  in  Nazareth,       -----       71 

VI. 

Not  to  Judge,  but  to  Save,       -----      87 

VII. 

Girded  and  Watching,      - 103 

VIII. 
Blessing  in  Passing,         ------        ug 

IX. 
Titus  and  His  Kind,         .        .        .        .        .  135 


CONTENTS, 

X. 

What  Made  Christ  Marvel,  -        .        .        .  151 

XI. 
Glorifying  the  Owner,      ------     165 

XII. 
Called  by  Her  Own  Name, 181 

XIII. 

Disciples  in  a  Contrary  Wind,       -        -        .        .       199 

XIV. 
The  Irrepressible  Truth,        .....       215 

XV. 

The  Sealed  Book  in  the  Saviour's  BLand,     -       -     231 

XVI. 

The  Judgment  a  Satisfaction,        .        .       -        -        245 


TJNIVERSITT 

^         OF 

I. 

BE  OF  GOOD  CHEEK. 

"  And  the  night  following  the  Lord  stood  by  him  and  said,  Be  of 
good  cheer."— Acts  23 :  11. 

T)AUL  justified  his  title  to  the  name  of  an  apos- 
-^  tie  on  the  ground  that  he  also  had  seen  the 
risen  Lord.  If  the  occasion  referred  to  in  our  text 
was  one  of  the  occasions  on  which  he  claimed  to 
have  seen  the  Master,  we  may  point  out  one  coinci- 
dence which  has  no  little  weight  in  making  Paul's 
claim  appear  natural.  For  we  may  show  that  one 
word  spoken  to  Paul  that  night  was  a  character- 
istic word  of  Jesus.  The  Lord  stood  by  him  and 
said :  "  Be  of  good  cheer."  What  other  word 
would  it  have  been  so  natural  for  the  Divine 
Master  to  utter?  This  will  appear,  and  the  lesson 
involved  in  it  will  become  manifest,  if  I  mention 
the  other  occasions  on  which  the  Saviour  used 
this  identical  word,  which  is  rendered  in  our 
version:   "Be  of  good  cheer." 

The  first  scene  is  that  of  the  palsied  man  at 
Capernaum.     On  arriving  in  his  own  city,  there 


10  BE  OF  GOOD   CHEER. 

was  brought  to  him  a  man  sick  of  the  palsy,  lying 
on  a  bed.  The  crowd  was  so  great  the  sick  man 
could  not  be  got  near.  Even  the  room  about  the 
door  was  thronged.  Accordingly  they  bore  the 
invalid  to  the  top  of  the  house  and  thence  let  him 
down  at  the  feet  of  the  wondrous  healer.  We 
are  led  to  infer  that  both  by  reason  of  disease  and 
from  some  special  sense  of  un worthiness,  this 
sufferer's  face  wore  a  look  of  weariness  and  deep 
despondency.  The  expectation  of  recovery  was 
gone.  He  may  have  wondered  at  the  confident 
zeal  of  the  friends  who  would  persist  in  bearing 
him  into  the  presence  of  the  miracle- worker.  It 
may  be  that  persons  in  the  crowd  looked  as  if  it 
were  in  them  to  say,  how  simple,  if  not  imperti- 
nent, it  was  for  your  friends  to  worry  your  poor 
frame  by  bringing  you  here!  But  the  Master's 
eye  no  sooner  fell  upon  the  man  than  he  said: 
"Son,  be  of  good  cheer;  thy  sins  are  forgiven 
thee." 

The  second  scene  is  that  of  the  woman  who 
touched  the  hem  of  his  garment.  For  twelve 
years,  we  are  told,  disease  had  wasted  her 
strength.  The  money  spent  on  physicians  had 
been  thrown  away,  her  case  being  nothing  bet- 
tered, but  rather  grown  worse.  In  the  mass  of 
people  which  pressed   the    Master,    this    woman 


BE  OF  GOOD   CHEER.  11 

secretly  and  painfully  mingles,  aiming  to  get 
near  enough  to  touch,  if  possible,  the  garment 
he  wore.  At  last,  her  finger  touches  the  hem. 
She  feels  in  her  body  the  strange  but  blessed 
sensation  of  being  healed.  She  allows  the  throng 
to  sway  her  back,  as  a  wave  recedes  on  the  ocean 
beach.  Still  she  carries  with  her  the  feeling  that 
some  how  she  may  have  seemed  rather  to  have 
stolen  than  asked  the  favor.  The  question,  "  Who 
has  touched  me?"  strikes  sharply  upon  her  sensi- 
tive mind.  It  brings  her,  full  of  undefined  fear, 
in  the  presence  of  her  benefactor.  Does  her 
heart  fail  her  lest  he  blame  her?  "But  Jesus, 
turning  and  seeing  her,  said,  daughter,  be  of  good 
cheer;  thy  faith  has  made  thee  whole." 

The  third  scene  is  that  in  which  he  was  beheld 
walking  on  the  sea.  The  multitudes  have  gone 
away.  The  evening  has  fully  come.  The  Master 
and  his  disciples  are  separated.  He  is  in  the 
mountain  for  prayer.  Their  ship  is  laboring 
heavily  in  a  tempestuous  sea.  Darkness,  storm 
and  danger  increase  every  moment.  To  the  con- 
sternation of  the  disciples,  they  see  the  appear- 
ance of  one  as  if  walking  on  the  furious  water. 
Their  imagination  makes  it  a  spirit.  The  courage, 
which  might  battle  with  wind  and  waves,  fails 
them  in  the  presence  of  a  power  of  the  air.    They 


12  BE  OF  GOOD  CHEER. 

utter  the  shriek  of  uttermost  fear.  In  contrast 
with  the  uproar  of  the  elements,  and  the  uproar, 
too,  of  perturbed  human  souls,  listen,  as  to  music 
coming  over  still  water,  to  that  calm,  firm  voice: 
"Be  of  good  cheer;  It  is  I.  Be  not  afraid."  The 
picture  of  that  scene  must  have  remained  painted 
on  the  vision  of  those  disciples;  the  tones  of  that 
voice  must  have  lingered  long  in  their  ears.  In 
many  a  more  tempestuous  sea  of  temptation  and 
persecution  they  must  have  recalled  this  word  and 
rejoiced  in  its  inspiration. 

Such  a  sea  was  tossing  wildly  for  them — and 
this  is  the  fourth  scene — on  the  night  of  the 
crucifixion.  It  was  a  long  storm  then  setting  in. 
In  the  hush  before  the  great  shock  of  it  should  be 
felt,  we  find  the  disciples  listening  to  the  Master 
with  new,  anxious,  intense,  and  yet  vague  appre- 
hension. He  is  to  leave  them.  He  is  to  leave 
them  to  wage  the  war  of  his  kingdom  alone.  He 
is  to  be  betrayed  by  one  from  their  own  number. 
The  priests  and  scribes  are  to  do  what  they  please 
with  him.  They  themselves  are  to  bend  and  well 
nigh  break  under  the  pitiless  tempest  which 
begins  already  to  mutter  around  the  corners  of 
the  house  in  which  they  have  eaten  the  passover. 
The  cock  shall  hardly  crow  before  one,  and  he  the 
chiefest,  shall  deny  the  Lord.     There  these  eleven 


BE  OF  GOOD   CHEER.  13 

men  are  sitting,  and  the  shadow  and  shiver  of  the 
coming  events  fall  over  them.  They  are  numbed 
and  unnerved.  They  had  not  been  girded  for 
such  a  conflict.  The  Master  casts  them  out  into 
the  great,  cruel  world.  There,  he  says,  ye  shall 
have  tribulation.  But  in  the  very  moment  and 
syllable  in  which  he  casts  them  forth,  he  utters 
his  favorite  word:  "Be  of  good  cheer."  Those 
men  slept  so  soundly  in  the  watch  of  that  night,  or 
went  away  so  far  from  him  in  the  break  of  the 
morning,  that  they  lost  for  a  time  the  encourage- 
ment of  this  word.  But  that  encouragement  came 
back,  how  often  it  has  come  back  to  weak  and 
tempted  disciples  since:  "Be  of  good  cheer,  I 
have  overcome  the  world." 

It  came  to  Paul  in  the  castle,  which  we  may  now 
reckon  as  the  fifth  occasion  in  which  the  Master 
spoke  this  favorite  word.  Paul  had  gone  up  to 
Jerusalem  after  his  third  missionary  Journey. 
His  enemies  found  him  in  the  temple.  With  the 
convulsive  quickness  of  a  mob,  they  had  dragged 
him  from  the  sacred  place  and  commenced  beating 
him  in  the  outer  court.  Under  the  protection  of 
military  arrest,  he  spoke  to  them  in  his  own 
defense.  But  that  defense  only  infuriated  them. 
They  were  mad  for  his  blood.  But  the  great  work 
among  the  churches-  would  suffer,  if  he  were  killed 


14  BE  OF  GOOD  CHEER. 

The  dominant  influences  working  in  the  world  were 
not  only  against  him;  those  influences  despised 
him  and  his  cause.  What  was  he,  one  lone  man, 
in  the  face  ot*  all  that  was  against  him?  He  lay 
down  in  the  castle.  Who  else  but  the  Lord 
could  it  be  who  should  stand  by  him  and  say :  "Be 
of  good  cheer,  as  thou  hast  testified  of  me  in  Jeru- 
salem, so  must  thou  bear  witness  also  in  Rome." 
Would  you  know  the  secret  of  Paul's  flow  of 
spirits  from  that  day  onward?  Whether  before 
Felix  or  Festus  or  Agrippa  or  at  Caesar's  court? 
See  him  in  the  midst  of  the  shipwreck,  calm,  brave, 
vigilant.  Hear  him,  an  ignoble  prisoner  stauding 
forth  in  the  midst  of  the  two  hundred  and  seveaty- 
six  souls,  use  almost  the  identical  term  he  had 
heard  from  the  Master.  And  now  I  exhort  you  to 
be  of  good  cheer — wherefore,  sirs,  be  of  good 
cheer.  Listen,  as  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  their 
fasting,  he  takes  bread  and  gives  thanks  to  God 
before  them  all.  Watch  that  motley  mass  as 
they  catch  heart  from  this  wonderful  fellow-passen- 
ger. "Then  were  they  all  of  good  cheer?"  Fol- 
low him,  as  he  leaves  the  vessel  and  wends  his 
way  to  the  imperial  city.  Make  note  that  on  his 
arrival  at  Three  Taverns,  thirty-three  miles  from 
Rome,  he  thanked  God  and  took  courage  (fharsos, 
cheer).     For    a   long    time    he   is    chained   to   a 


BE  OF   GOOD   CHEER.  15 

soldier.  A  man  of  intensely  active  habits,  be  is 
confined  within  the  narrow  circuit  of  his  prison. 
His  friends,  one  by  one,  leave  him.  Some  of  them, 
alas,  not  only  fail  him,  but  fail  the  cause  also. 
*-Only  Luke  is  with  me." 

"  Look  in  once  more, 
The  saint  is  in  his  bonds  again. 
Save  that  his  hopes  more  boldly  soar, 
He  and  his  lot  unchanged  remain! 

Yes,  his  hopes  do  more  boldly  soar.  For  these  are 
among  the  expressions  which  occur  in  his  latest 
Epistles:  " I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered.  I  have 
fought  a  good  fight.  I  have  finished  my  course. 
"  I  have  kept  the  faitli,  henceforth  there  is  laid  up 
for  me  the  crown  of  righteousness."  "The  Lord 
will  deliver  me  from  every  evil  work  and  will  save 
me  unto  his  heavenly  kingdom,  to  whom  be  the 
glory  forever  and  ever,  amen."  With  such  words 
on  his  lips,  the  great  apostle  passes  the  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  martyrdom.  What,  I  was  asking, 
was  the  secret  of  this  high  flowing  spirit,  in  the 
midst  of  age,  loneliness,  desertion,  imprisonment, 
care  of  all  the  churches?  Our  text  answers  the 
question.  His  Lord  stood  by  him  and  he  heard 
again  and  again  this  favorite  \vord  of  the  Master, 
saying,  Be  of  good  cheer,  Paul. 


16  BE  OF  GOOD  CHEER. 

I  cannot  think  it  merely  a  pleasant  coincidence 
that  on  these  five  critical  occasions  our  Lord 
should  be  reported  to  us  as  using  this  same  word. 
We  are  entitled  to  conclude  that  the  word  marks 
a  signal  characteristic  in  the  Son  of  Man.  He 
was  here  to  encourage  man  in  the  path  of  right- 
eousness. So  it  was  predicted  of  him  long  before 
he  came  to  earth  in  those  beautiful  words  of 
Isaiah,  "  The  Lord  God  hath  given  me  the  tongue 
of  the  learned  that  I  should  know  how  to  speak  a 
word  in  season  to  him  that  is  weary."  And  again, 
"  He  shall  not  break  the  bruised  reed  nor  quench 
the  smoking  flax.  He  shall  not  fail  nor  be  dis- 
couraged till  he  have  set  judgment  in  the  earth." 
And  if  we  recollect  the  familiar  narratives  of  the 
gospel  in  the  light  of  this  repeated  word,  confir- 
mations of  this  characteristic  will  spring  up  on 
every  side.  His  quick  recognition  of  faith,  his 
open,  full,  glad  recognition  of  it,  whether  in  cen- 
turion of  Rome  or  woman  of  Canaan,  supplies 
evidence.  His  appreciation  of  a  cup  of  cold  water, 
of  the  two  mites  of  the  poor  woman,  of  the  love 
shown  by  the  woman  who  was  a  sinner,  his  kindly 
attitude  toward  the  despised  classes  of  his  time 
reveal  this  trait.  So  also  his  words  by  the  bier  at 
Nain,  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  to  the  thief  on 
the  cross.     Indeed  it  might  well  be  claimed  that 


BE  OF  GOOD  CHEER.  17 

one  great  reason  why  the  divine  Lord  became  flesh 
and  dwelt  among  us  was,  that  he  might  be  able  to 
say  in  hearty  human  words  to  the  multitudes  of 
earth  who  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  Come  unto 
me  and  I  will  give  you  rest. 

And  this  view  of  Christ  brings  him  into  close 
and  dear  relations  with  most  of  us.  It  was  stated  in 
the  papers  that  some  gentleman  in  St.  Louis  willed 
his  entire  property,  estimated  at  two  million  dollars, 
to  a  person,  because  that  person  years  before  had, 
by  a  little  confidence  and  a  loan,  encouraged  him 
when  he  was  greatly  embarrassed.  Plenty  of  people 
we  have  known  who,  when  we  were  in  difiiculty, 
stood  off,  chilling  us  by  their  indifference,  distrust 
or  censure.  They  may  have  been  righteous,  yet 
scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  will  one  die.  But 
the  neighbor,  teacher,  pastor,  who,  when  we  were 
setting  out  in  life,  spoke  the  hearty  good  word  to 
us  or  for  us  and  bade  us  substantial  God  speed  in 
any  worthy  undertaking,  he  has  a  warm  place  in 
our  hearts.  When  we  return  to  the  old  places 
and  meet  him  again,  we  greet  him  with  no 
common  grasp.  If  he  lie  in  the  old  church  yard, 
walking  leisurely  and  pensively  through  the  sacred 
grounds,  we  shall  read  the  name  on  the  head-stone 
with  dimmed  eyes.  For  it  is  good  to  be  encour- 
aged.    It  is   at  this   quick  tender  point  of    the 


18  BE  OF  GOOD  CHEER. 

human  feeling  that  God  in  Christ  meets  us.  We 
stand  in  the  close  crowd  where  they  are  letting 
down  the  palsied  man,  or  move  in  the  dense  throng 
through  which  the  woman  touches  the  hem  of  the 
Master's  garment,  or  we  toil,  faint  with  rowing,  on 
the  little  Galilean  lake,  or  we  sit  in  the  upper  room 
under  the  oppressive  sense  of  impending  evil,  or 
we  lie  in  the  castle,  prisoners,  images  of  possible 
disaster  gathering  in  the  brain— these  are  symbols 
of  the  life  we  live, — but  in  the  varied  conditions  the 
Christ  of  the  gospel  stands  beside  us.  He  is 
never  at  loss  for  one  word.  It  comes  spontane- 
ously to  his  lips.  Be  of  good  cheer. 

But  let  me  hasten  to  note  that  in  each  case  in 
which  our  Lord  used  this  word,  he  gave  reason  for 
using  it.  The  cheery  voice  stood  for  a  cheery 
reality.  "If,"  argues  St.  James,  "a  brother  or 
sister  be  naked  and  destitute  of  daily  food  and  one 
of  you  say  unto  them.  Depart  in  peace,  be  you 
warmed  and  fed  :  notwithstanding  ye  give  them 
not  those  things  which  are  needful  to  the  body, 
what  doth  it  profit  ?  "  It  was  no  wordy  encourage- 
ment which  came  to  the  palsied  man.  When  the 
Master  said  to  him,  "  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee," 
there  were  those  standing  round  who  were  ready  to 
think  that  this  was  something  more  easily  said 
than  done ;    for  to  forgive  a  man  his  sins  belongs 


BE  OF  GOOD   CHEER.  19 

to  God  alone,  and  though  Jesus  might  say  it,  yet 
who  could  verify  it  ?  But  soon  came  a  declaration 
which  everybody  could  verify.  But  that  ye  may 
know  that  the  Son  of  Man  hath  authority  on  earth 
to  forgive  sins,  arise,  take  up  thy  bed  and  go  to 
thine  house.  And  he  arose  and  departed  to  his 
own  house.  The  cheering  words  of  one  who  could 
send  a  palsied  man  home  healed,  carrying  his  bed 
with  him,  were  spirit  and  life.  So  also,  the 
diseased  woman  was  not  merely  talked  to,  she  had 
been  made  whole.  The  anxious  disciples  in  the 
storm,  too,  heard  the  master  say,  "  It  is  I ;  be  not 
afraid,"  but  more  than  that  happened,  "  When  he 
was  come  into  the  ship  the  wind  ceased."  On 
the  night  of  the  betrayal,  likewise,  a  wonderful 
reason  was  given  why  the  disciples  should  take 
heart :  "  I  have  overcome  the  world."  Nor  was 
Paul  left  with  a  vague  exhortation  to  cheerfulness; 
he  was  given  a  particular  and  definite  promise, 
that  his  imprisonment  would  enable  him  to  bear 
the  witness  he  loved  so  well  within  the  walls  of 
the  great  capital  of  the  Roman  world.  Yes, 
Christ's  gracious  words,  in  each  case,  stood  for 
gracious  realities.  When  he  said  cheer,  the  cheer- 
ing fact  was  on  its  way.  How  often  we  have  seen 
some  well  intentioned  doctors  tell  us  to  dismiss 
our  fears   with   respect  to   some  friend   stricken 


20  JiE  OF  GOOD  CHEER. 

with  disease,  "  There  is  no  serious  illness,  she  will 
be  well  in  a  few  days."  But  we  have  sometimes 
failed  to  dismiss  our  fears.  Courage  and  the 
light  heart  would  not  come,  because  we  were  not 
sure  the  doctor  knew  what  he  was  affirming.  For 
cheery  words  must  have  the  backing  of  facts. 
They  must  come  from  one  who  has  knowledge  or 
power  to  bring  things  to  pass.  But  the  great 
Physician  in  whom  we  trust  has  never  failed  dur- 
ing these  nineteen  centuries  to  reward  the  courage 
which  his  spoken  promises  have  inspired. 

The  uses  of  this  theme  we  have  now  been  follow- 
ing are  not  far  to  seek.  Little  need  to  make  formal 
mention  of  them.  But  I  would  like  to  have  this 
theme  leave  on  your  minds  pleasant  impressions 
of  Christ,  our .  Lord.  How  our  faces  light  up, 
when,  talking  together  of  some  friend,  now  absent, 
we  say  to  each  other.  Do  you  remember  such  and 
such  favorite  words  he  used  to  speak?  Those 
favorite  words  are  like  a  right  natural  expression 
preserved  in  a  portrait.  So  does  not  this  word 
tharsei,  call  up  within  us  a  picture  of  the  Lord, 
which  we  can  carry  with  us  and  never  lose? 
Surely  it  will  give  a  vast  deal  of  help  to  us  to 
think  of  Christ  in  this  light.  He  is  the  being, 
who  beyond  all  others,  has  the  disposition  and  the 
power  to  cheer  human   hearts.     That,  indeed,  is 


BE   OF  GOOD  CHEER.  21 

what  makes  him  have  his  hold  on  the  world.  For 
we  are  all  passing,  or  have  just  passed,  or  are  soon 
to  pass  through  some  experience,  like  that  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  "when  they  journeyed  from 
Mount  Hor  by  the  way  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  the 
soul  of  the  people  was  much  discouraged  because 
of  the  way."  We  need  to  be  assured  that  he  who 
has  been  lifted  up  and  passed  through  the  heavens, 
is  still  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities 
and  has  great  store  of  courage  for  us  which  will 
never  fail  us. 

I  would  like  to  have  you  note  also  that  Christ 
imparts  to  those  who  follow  him,  the  same  spirit 
of  encouragement  which  he  possessed  himself.  It 
is  astonishing  how  much  many  of  us  lack  this 
spirit.  It  is  so  much  easier  for  many  people  to 
criticise,  find  fault,  tell  what  people  ought  to  do, 
and  throw  cold  water  on  smoking  flax.  It  was  so 
with  the  twelve  disciples  at  first.  They  acted  as  a 
kind  of  body-guard  to  their  Master.  They  looked 
frigidly  on  the  mothers  who  would  bring  the  little 
children  to  him.  They  were  not  gracious  to  that 
Syro-Phenician  woman.  Send  her  away:  for  she 
crieth  after  us."  But  particularly  suggestive  is 
the  account  given  of  what  took  place,  when  Barti- 
meus  the  blind  man  called  so  earnestly  upon  the 
Saviour  for  help.    Many,  it  is  said,  rebuked  him 


22  BE  OF  GOOD  CHEER. 

that  he  should  hold  his  peace.  But  Jesus  said, 
call  ye  him.  And  they  not  only  called  him,  but, 
what  is  specially  to  be  remarked,  they  took  up  the 
Master's  own  word  and  made  it  theirs.  For  they 
said  now.  Be  of  good  cheer,  arise,  he  calleth  thee. 
They  say  it,  because  their  Master  had  said  it 
before  them.  His  influence  transforms  them. 
Instead  of  belonging  to  the  multitude  who  hinder 
those  who  would  come  out  of  blindness  and  dark- 
ness and  sorrow,  they  themselves  become  angels  of 
comfort  and  help.  So  the  favorite  words  of  the 
Master  pass  into  the  familiar  speech  of  his  church. 
They  are  caught  up  and  carried  down  the  cen- 
turies. 

Surely,  our  study  teaches  us,  that  we  should  be  en- 
couraged Christians,  for  we  have  in  Christ  a  strong 
friend ;  we  should  be  encouraging  Christians,  for 
our  fellow-men  need  all  the  cheer  we  can  possi- 
bly give  them  in  the  way  of  righteousness  ;  we 
should  become  Christians,  if  we  are  not  such.  Else 
you  will  only  hold  back  or  hold  others  back;  you 
will  look  on  and  see  men  needing  moral  help  and 
you  will  have  hard  work  to  say  or  do  anything  to 
help  them.  Your  years  will  run  fast  away  and 
though  you  may  meet  with  scores  and  hundreds 
who  want  incentive  and  aid  in  order  to  live  a 
good  life  or  die  a  peaceful  death,  yet  you  will  come 


BE  OF  GOOD   CHEER.  23 

to  your  end,  and,  looking  back,  have  to  confess 
that  you  have  not  encouraged  anybody  to  live 
more  worthily  or  die  more  triumphantly.  But 
once  in  Christ  yourself,  you  will  find  that  he 
gives  you  from  time  to  time  the  satisfaction,  like 
which  there  is  no  other,  the  satisfaction  of  bring- 
ing good  cheer  into  the  moral  and  eternal  life  of 
the  world. 


II. 

THE  SENSITIVE  VERACITY  OF  JESUS. 

"i/  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have  told  you." — John  14:2. 

T  ITTLE  things  reveal  character.  Coleridge 
*-^  said  that  one  could  discover  that  a  man 
was  a  gentleman  by  just  the  few  words  he  would 
speak  during  the  moments  he  was  standing  under 
a  common  shelter  from  a  sudden  summer  shower. 
There  is  a  very  certain,  though  not  easily  defined, 
difference  between  an  ordinarily  true  and  a  special- 
ly true  man.  An  eminent  botanist  pronounced  it 
impossible  to  make  a  definition  of  an  oak  which 
should  distinguish  it  from  all  chestnuts ;  or  a  defi- 
nition of  a  chestnut  which  should  distinguish  it  from 
all  oaks.  But  when  the  botanist  was  asked.  Would 
you  ever  mistake  in  calling  an  oak  a  chestnut  or 
a  chestnut  an  oak,  the  reply  was,  never.  He 
might  not  formulate  the  difference,  he  could  recog- 
nize at  once. 

Now,  I  think,  one  will  get  the  impression  at 
once  from  this  single  clause  that  Christ  was  in 
no  ordinary  sense  and  degree  trustworthy ;   and 


26  THE  SENSITIVE   VERACITY  OF  JESUS. 

that  word  stands  for  a  quality  than  which  it  were 
difficult  to  mention  one  more  excellent. 

Jesus  was  comforting  the  disciples  in  their  grief 
over  his  impending  departure.  He  is  telling  them 
that  though  they  cannot  follow  him  now,  they 
will  follow  him  by  and  by.  He  assures  them 
that  in  the  Father's  house  whither  he  is  returning 
there  are  many  dwellings.  Just  here  he  drops 
this  brief  remark,  "If  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have 
told  you."  What  a  disclosure  there  is  in  this  one 
remark  of  that  quality  of  character  in  him,  on 
which  one  may  rely  without  hesitation  and  to  the 
utmost,  because  he  is  one  who  feels  the  value  of 
truth  and  could  not,  either  wilfully  or  heedlessly, 
leave  the  disciples  building  on  an  unfounded 
hope  ! 

Suppose,  then,  for  a  few  moments,  that  the 
Master  could  have  given  any  one  of  the  following 
turns  instead  of  this  given  in  our  text. 

Thus,  suppose  him  to  have  said,  It  may  not  be 
so ;  but  it  makes  no  great  difference  whether 
it  be  so  or  not.  It  is  of  no  particular  account 
what  any  one  believes  about  a  future  state.  One 
is  neither  better  nor  worse  because  of  belief  or 
disbelief.  You  can  go  on  and  be  faithful  to  the 
moral  principles  which  I  laid  down  in  my  mount- 
ain sermon,  even  should   there   be   no   mansions 


(university) 

THE  SENSITIVE  VKB^CI^^iJ^Q^fiS^^^       27 

for  you  in  any  heavenly  country.  Indeed,  faith- 
fulness to  right  and  truth,  without  any  expectation 
of  any  future  felicity  may  be  better.  Your  virtue 
will  not  be  tarnished  by  suspicion  of  being  done 
for  a  reward.  Do  we  not  discern  instantly  the 
chasm  which  separates  the  mind  which  can  think 
in  this  cold  and  indifferent  way,  from  the  mind 
of  the  Master  ?  "I  would  have  told  you,"  for  the 
truth  on  this  subject  is  not  a  matter  of  slight 
importance  to  me.  Let  men,  like  Pontius  Pilate, 
ask  derisively  or  despairingly,  What  is  truth,  to 
me  it  is  beyond  estimate  precious.  If  there  were 
no  heavenly  mansions,  I  would  not  have  alluded 
to  the  prospects  of  them. 

Or,  suppose  the  great  Teacher  to  have  given 
this  turn :  There  may  not  be  really  any  such 
home  in  the  Father's  house,  but  the  prospect 
seems  to  comfort  you  ;  if  it  be  only  a  dream,  yet 
the  dream  is  pleasant  to  entertain ;  I  would  not 
take  it  ruthlessly  out  of  your  faith ;  it  may 
help  you  to  sustain  coming  trials;  no  harm  can 
come  of  it;  some  time  perhaps  you  will  be 
advanced  in  your  ideas  and  will  not  need  it. 
How  different  is  the  tone  of  such  a  theory  from 
that  of  the  actaal  Christ !  If  heaven  were  not  to 
be,  I  would  say  so.  If  it  were  only  a  pleasant 
dream,   you   should  know  it.      Just    now,   when 


28  THE  SENSITIVE  VERACITY  OF  JESUS. 

Peter  was  dreaming  about  his  willingness  to  lay 
down  his  life  for  my  sake,  did  I  not  say  to  him, 
Why,  Peter,  before  the  cock  crow,  you  will  deny 
me  three  times?  Could  I  cut  down  that  pleasing 
complacency  in  Simon's  mind  and  let  this  de- 
lusion, if  it  were  a  delusion,  linger  unrebuked  in 
your  thoughts  ? 

Again,  suppose  our  Lord  to  have  said,  in  an 
undertone,  I  do  not  myself  see  any  firm  ground 
for  affirming  any  Father's  house  with  many 
mansions  providing  for  individual  and  personal  im- 
mortality, but  the  affirmation  has  had  undeniably  a 
good  effect  upon  mankind  ;  it  has  stimulated  virtue 
in  ordinary  men.  Therefore,  it  is  such  a  tenet  as 
may  be  indulged  on  account  of  its  proved  useful- 
ness. Such  is  well  known  to  have  been  the  final 
position  of  an  eminent  English  philosopher  of 
our  own  generation.  Immortality,  reasoned  this 
wise  man,  cannot  be  proven  beyond  reasonable 
doubt,  but  as  it  is  a  wholesome  doctrine  on  the 
whole,  the  hope  of  it  may  be  indulged.  Plainly 
this  is  not  the  tone  of  the  prophet  of  Nazareth. 
If  I  did  not  know  that  there  are  dwellings  pre- 
pared on  high  for  your  individual  home,  I  would 
have  told  you.  Here  is  trustworthiness  resting 
not  merely  on  veracity,  but  upon  actual  knowledge. 

I   may   suggest  one   other  possible  turn  which 


THE  SENSITIVE    VERACITY   OF  JESUS.  29 

might  have  been  substituted  for  this  of  the  text. 
Suppose  our  Lord  to  have  said,  If  this  beautiful 
doctrine  of  heaven  shall  finally  prove  unreal,  I  do 
not  hold  myself  responsible  for  the  issue ;  it  may 
prove  true;  it  may  prove  untrue  ;  take  your  own 
risks  about  it.  There  might  seem  a  blunt  ruugh 
honesty  in  so  disposing  of  the  matter,  but  such 
veracity  is  hollow  or  heartless  as  compared  with 
the  tone  of  our  Lord's  actual  utterance.  If  it  were 
not  so,  I  would  have  told  you.  I  should  consider 
myself  bound  to  tell  you.  I  could  not  regard  it 
honorable  in  me  as  a  special  religious  teacher  to 
throw  these  risks  upon  you.  I  take  the  risks  my- 
self. I  hold  myself  responsible  for  the  reality  of 
the  pictures  which  I  have  drawn  of  the  heavenly 
home. 

The  four  suppositions,  now  made,  will  have 
served  their  purpose,  if  they  have  helped  to  bring 
out  to  any  other  mind  the  impression  which  has 
been  again  and  again  fastened  upon  my  own 
by  reason  of  this  single  line  of  our  text.  This 
single  line  flashes  instantly  upon  one's  thought 
the  impression  of  our  Lord's  careful,  strong,  deli- 
cate and  affectionate  trustworthiness.  But  this 
quality  of  character,  though  revealed  in  these  few 
words,  is  by  no  means  confined  to  them.  The 
gentleman  may  be  disclosed  as  such  by  the  one 


30  THE  SENSITIVE  VERACITY  OF  JESUS. 

question  or  answer  that  he  makes  during  the  pat- 
tering of  the  summer  shower,  but  that  is  because 
his  culture  has  become  a  part  of  himself  and  he 
divests  himself  of  it  nowhere  and  at  no  time. 
Our  attention  may  be  drawn  to  it  on  the  slight  oc- 
casion, but  once  we  have  seen  it,  we  shall 
never  cease  to  see  it.  So  when  I  read  this  clause, 
I  say  to  myself,  How  admirably  these  words  sug- 
gest the  perfect  reliableness  of  my  Saviour!  But 
the  moment  this  suggestion  passes  my  lips,  it 
seems  also  as  if  all  the  sacred  pages  were  written 
to  set  forth  this  particular  grace.  Indeed,  it  may 
well  seem  so,  for  trustworthiness  is  not  a  single 
grace.  When  one  speaks,  for  instance,  of  the 
trustworthiness  of  a  bridge,  say,  such  a  one  as 
spans  the  Mississippi  at  St.  Louis,  that  is  the 
grand  thing  about  it,  that,  day  or  night,  when 
streams  are  low  and  streams  are  high  and  mad 
with  terrific  currents,  in  wind  and  rain  and  scorch- 
ing heat,  the  great  structure  has  committed  to  it  the 
burden  of  rich  harvests  and  of  a  continental  com- 
merce and  of  human  lives;  and  the  first,  middle, 
last  thing  demanded  of  it  is  that  it  be  worthy  of 
confidence.  But  though  that  be  the  one  grand  re- 
quisite in  the  bridge,  yet  how  many  things  go  to- 
gether to  make  up  that  requisite.  The  granite 
that  lies  deep  down  in  the  treacherous  bed  of  the 


THE  SENSITIVE   VERACITY  OF  JESUS.  31 

river,  the  piers  that  bear  the  weight  and  pressure 
of  tlie  whole,  the  truss  work  of  steel,  the  various 
pieces  of  material  which  have  been  wrought  one 
by  one  and  fitted  each  to  its  place,  all  go  to  make 
the  bridge  safe.  So,  what  is  there  in  our  Lord's 
complete  person,  what  grace  or  power  of  nature  or 
growth,  which  does  not  enter  into  his  perfectness 
as  an  object  of  human  trust?  But  it  is  always  a 
great  source  of  confidence  regarding  any  massive 
structure  reared  by  men's  hands,  if  we  find  that 
the  responsible  persons  engaged  upon  it  were 
themselves  distinctly  conscious  of  the  problem 
which  they  had  undertaken  to  work  out.  For,  after 
all,  in  the  most  important  sense,  the  St.  Louis 
bridge  was  put  and  held  in  its  place  by  the  engi- 
neer who  planned  it.  His  brains  and  knowledge 
and  trusty  character  were  its  support.  So  the 
trustworthiness  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  foundation 
on  which  the  salvation  of  this  world  is  built.  All 
the  travel  to  the  celestial  country  passes  over  his 
person.  No  question,  therefore,  is  so  vital  as  this: 
Did  he  fully  understand  that  which  he  had  under- 
taken? Did  he  consciously  and  distinctly  appreci- 
ate the  strain  that  would  come  on  his  trustiness? 
He  assumed  the  greatest  task  ever  assumed  in  this 
world.     Bridges  and  ship  canals  are  as  nothing  to 


32  THE  SENSITIVE  VERACITY  OF  JESUS. 

this  work.  Did  lie  assume  it  as  one  who  felt  to  the 
quick  the  demands  which  it  made  on  him? 

Now,  if  anyone  will  go  through  the  New  Testa- 
ment with  these  questions  in  mind,  he  will  be  im- 
pressed with  the  affirmative  answer  given  to  them 
there.  From  beginning  to  end  it  is  manifest  that 
the  Redeemer  understands  and  feels  that  a  pressure 
is  on  him,  which  needs  to  be  sustained  by  utter 
and  extraordinary  trustworthiness. 

Remark,  then,  as  you  pass  along  these  pages, 
how  prominent  the  grace  of  truthfulness  is  made. 
He  is  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  "full  of 
grace  and  truth."  "Ye  seek  to  kill  me,  a  man 
that  told  you  the  truth."  "  Because  I  tell  you 
the  truth,  ye  believe  me  not."  So,  in  the  chapter 
before  us,  "I  am  the  truth."  In  the  presence 
of  Pilate  also,  what  majestic  words  are  these  in 
answer  to  the  question,  '•  Art  thou  a  King,  then?  " 
"  Thou  sayest  I  am  a  King  ;  for  this  cause  came 
I  into  the  world  that  I  should  bear  witness  unto 
the  truth.  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth 
heareth  my  words."  This  quality  in  him 
impressed  itself  in  a  special  manner  upon  the 
mind  of  the  apostle,  John.  In  the  midst  of  the 
false  and  the  unreliable,  John  had  only  to  lift 
his  eyes  and  he  beheld  again  "the  true  and 
faithful  witness."     How  often  in  the  book  of  Reve- 


THE  SENSITIVE  VERACITY  OF  JESUS,  33 

lation  does  this  epithet  flash  forth !  In  that 
grand  scene,  for  example,  when  he  sees  heaven 
opened  and  the  Redeemer  ride  forth,  at  the  head 
of  the  armies  of  heaven,  the  long  columns  of 
saints  following  their  leader  on  white  horses, 
themselves  clothed  in  fine  linen,  white  and  clean, 
the  name  that  is  first  applied  to  him  is  "  Faithful 
and  true."  Now,  it  is  much  to  me,  in  reading 
the  Scriptures,  which  invite  continually  to  the 
exercise  of  faith,  to  find  that  the  being  in  whom 
especially  this  faith  is  to  be  reposed,  is  repre- 
sented as  having  the  very  quality  which  corre- 
sponds to  faith.  You  ask  your  friend  returning 
from  New  York,  What  impression  did  you  get 
regarding  that  bridge-work  that  has  been  doing 
to  unite  New  York  and  Brooklyn  ?.  If  he  answer, 
the  impression  fastened  on  me  concerning  it  was 
its  prodigious  strength  ;  the  more  closely  I  ex- 
amined, the  more  I  felt  that  this  was  devised 
by  some  one  who  meant  that  it  should  last  and 
be  safe  forever.  If  that  be  your  friend's  answer, 
it  is  such  an  answer  as  one  would  like  to  hear. 
Bat  this  is  the  impression  which  a  careful  reading 
of  this  New  Testament  will  induce.  Why,  what- 
ever else  may  be  affirmed  of  the  Lord  who  is 
described  therein,  one  trait  stands  forth  clear, 
he  made  a  specialty  of  the  truth. 


34  THE  SENSITIVE  VERACITY  OF  JESUS. 

There  was  one  point  in  his  claims,  in  respect- 
to  which  the  strain  on  him  would  be  especially- 
severe.  For  he  ventured  to  guarantee  to  all 
men  who  trusted  in  him,  forgiveness  of  sins, 
restoration  to  divine  favor  and  to  everlasting 
life.  But  the  natural  and  reasonable  feeling  was 
expressed  by  the  Jews  when  they  said,  Who 
can  forgive  sins  but  God  only  ?  For  it  is  sun-clear 
that  nobody  can  make  such  guarantee  as  Christ 
makes,  unless  he  have  extraordinary  divine  au- 
thority. But  just  this  is  what  the  Master  claims. 
It  is  a  stupendous  claim.  It  is  nothing  less 
than  the  claim  to  span  the  abyss  which  separates 
the  infinite  from  the  finite  ;  to  combine  in  himself 
divine  and  human  power ;  while  standing  on  the 
shores  of  time  to  have  instant,  constant  and 
potent  unity  with  him  who  inhabiteth  eternity. 
"  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time  ;  the  only 
begotten  Son,  who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father, 
he  hath  declared  him."  Now,  plainly,  at  this 
point  the  pressure  on  Christ's  trustworthiness 
becomes  severe.  But  it  is  precisely  at  this  point, 
where  the  strain  is  so  tense  that  it  might  seem 
as  if  the  entire  Christian  structure  would  snap 
any  moment  and  drop  out  of  its  high  place  into 
nothingness,  right  at  this  point  that  I  see  the 
veracity  of  Christ  is  careful,  unhesitating,  clear. 


THE  SENSITIVE   VERACITY  OF  JESUS.  35 

He  is  aware  that  this  claim  is  high.  He  knows 
that  it  must  be  challenged ;  that  men  may  feel 
constrained  to  say,  Why,  this  is  absurd  ;  this  is 
impossible ;  this,  at  the  least,  is  improbable. 
Nevertheless,  he  persistently  links  himself  with 
his  Father,  as  no  other  being  could  presume  to 
do.  "  Believe  in  God ;  believe  also  in  me.  In 
my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions.  If  it 
were  not  so,  I  would  have  told  you.  I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you."  It  is  manifest  that 
Christ  is  not  propounding  a  doctrine  about  the 
future  life,  but  he  is  affirming  what  he  knows 
about  his  Father's  house  and  what  he  is  able  and 
going  to  prepare  there.  This  becomes  the  more 
evident  when,  in  the  ninth  verse  immediately 
following,  he  makes  that  wonderful  answer  to 
Philip,  "  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you 
and  dost  thou  not  know  me,  Philip  ?  He  that 
hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father."  As  I 
ponder  over  these  and  similar  declarations,  there 
grows  upon  me  the  thought,  suggested  by  the 
single  line  of  our  text.  Yes,  we  may  be  sure 
that,  if  these  great  facts  were  not  so,  this  person, 
who  is  so  exceptionally  true,  would  have  said  so. 
For  he  is  not  merely  honest  as  the  world  goes, 
but  he  belongs  within  that  inner  circle  of  those 
to  whom  truth  is  sacred,  who  could  not,  if  they 


36  THE  SENSITIVE    VERACITY  OF  JESUS. 

would,  and  would  not,  if  they  could,  do  or  say 
anything  which  would  deceive.  Say  rather,  he 
is  himself  the  centre  and  life  of  that  circle. 
Every  one  that  has  this  character  is  a  child  of 
light,  of  "that  light  which  lighteth  every  man 
that  Cometh  into  the  world."  All  that  we  have 
imagined  possible  in  trustworthiness  is  realized 
in  him. 

Of  course,  out  of  such  a  theme  as  this  I  might 
draw  nearly  all  the  practical  lessons  pertaining  to 
the  Christian  experience.  For  what  is  there  of 
Christian  grace  or  strength  that  does  not  root  itself 
in  the  trustworthiness  of  the  King  of  the  Church? 

But  I  may  at  least  bring  out  and  place  in  full 
view  that  definition  of  the  word,  faith;  which  needs 
to  be  kept  clear  in  the  minds  of  men  in  our  con- 
fused time.  Believe  in  God;  believe  also  in  me. 
This  is  the  activity  named  in  immediate  connec- 
tion. But  what  is  faith  ?  It  is  simply  trust  in  one 
who  is  trustworthy.  It  is  not  opinion.  It  is  more 
like  the  courage  of  conviction.  It  is  not  credulity. 
It  is  not  "going  it  blind."  It  is  not  trust  simply, 
without  regard  to  the  person  in  whom  the  confi- 
dence is  to  be  reposed.  It  is  trust  in  one  in  whom 
we  have  good,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  specially  good 
reason  to  confide.  The  faith  in  Christ,  to  which 
we  are  so  much  exhorted,  is  the  most  natural  of 


THE  SENSITIVE   VERACITY  OF  JESUS.  37 

all  moral  acts  and  the  one  most  utterly  rational. 
Faith  and  reason  are  as  completely  in  harmony  as 
the  eye  and  the  sunlight. 

We  may  see,  also,  how  faith  is  to  be  had  and  in- 
creased. It  is  by  enlightenment  and  exercise. 
We  become  acquainted  with  Christ  as  he  is  given 
to  us  in  the  Word;  he  makes  the  impression  of 
being  reliable;  we  test  him  as  far  as  we  can  do  so, 
and  the  conviction  deepens.  We  treat  him  as  we 
do  reliable  persons.  We  grow  in  his  grace,  as  you 
grow  at  rest  respecting  the  trains  that  take  you  to 
and  fro  over  the  continent.  We  see  the  locomo- 
tive is  strong;  built  expressly  for  its  work;  that  it 
carries  hundreds  and  thousands  of  people  daily 
and  safely.  We  have  come  to  rest  in  it;  we  take 
our  trips  with  hardly  a  thought  of  solicitude;  we 
arrange  all  our  business  on  the  strength  of  our 
confidence;  buy  property  and  build  homes  on  the 
basis  of  it.  So  our  faith  grows  by  knowing  him 
on  whom  we  trust  and  treating  him  as  if  he  were 
worthy  of  confidence. 

We  may  see,  too,  how  it  is  that  the  Christian 
doctrine  of  immortality  is  not  a  doctrine  simply, 
but  an  assurance.  Dr.  Thomas  Hill  tells  us  that 
on  a  certain  occasion  he  had  read  to  a  friend  the 
report  of  a  scene  which  occurred  in  the  Natural 
Academy  of  Science.     The  superintendent  of  the 


38  THE  SENSITIVE  VERACITY  OF  JESUS. 

coast  survey  had  read  a  paper  on  some  abstruse 
mathematical  topic;  Agassiz  rose  and  said,  "Mr, 
President,  I  confess  I  do  not  know  one  word  of 
this  communication,  but  I  have  had  heretofore 
such  ample  reasons  for  believing  in  the  speaker's 
clearness  and  soundness  of  thought,  that  I  accept 
what  he  has  now  said  as  undoubtedly  true  and  of 
great  practical  value.''  "  That,"  rejoined  Dr.  Hill's 
friend,  "is  just  the  way  I  do  with  respect  to  Jesus 
and  the  immortal  life.  I  have  seen  and  do  see  so 
many  proofs  of  the  wonderful  wisdom  and  clear- 
ness of  thought  and  holiness  of  character  in  him, 
that  when  hesays  these  things  are  true  of  the  future 
life,  I  believe  they  are  true."  Ihe  Christian  atti- 
tude indeed,  with  reference  to  all  the  promises  is  like 
that  of  Dr.  Livingstone  as  exhibited  in  that  story 
of  him  when  his  life  was  placed  in  imminent  peril 
by  the  threatening  presence  of  hostile  bands.  He 
made  all  the  provision  that  he  could  make,  and 
then  lay  down  to  rest  in  confident  reliance  on  the 
providence  of  God.  For,  said  he,  "  The  promises 
of  Divine  care  are  made  on  the  word  of  a  gentle- 
man of  the  most  delicate  honor,  Jesus  Christ,  and 
that's  end  of  it."  The  word  of  Christ  is  the  end 
of  it  with  us  also. 

In   respect,   likewise,   to   the   solemn  questions 
which   relate   to   impenitent  souls  in  the   future 


THE  SENSITIVE   VERACITY  OF  JESUS.  39 

world,  this  perfect  and  delicate  trustiness  of  the 
Redeemer  brings  its  impressive  lesson.  For  he 
who  tells  us  that  there  are  many  mansions  in  the 
Father's  house  has  pictured  the  loss,  the  death, 
which  are  the  wages  of  sin  hereafter.  There  are 
many" who  will  be  glad  to  think  of  his  word  as  so 
delicately  sure  when  he  refers  to  the  home  of  the 
blest.  But  we  must  not  count  him  trusty,  when 
he  prophesies  pleasant  things,  and  treat  him  as 
evasive,  equivocal,  so  discounting  his  reliableness, 
when  he  predicts  the  peril  of  unbelief.  If  he  is 
sensitively  trustworthy  in  one  case,  he  must 
be  equally  so  in  the  other.  No  theologian  or 
preacher  worthy  of  the  name,  warns  against  the 
second  death,  because  the  thought  of  such  an 
issue  is  pleasant  to  his  mind.  But  there  it  stands, 
outlined  by  the  true  and  faithful  witness.  We 
know  it  must  be  a  real  danger,  for  if  it  were  not 
so,  he  would  not  have  told  us  that  it  is. 

Every  aspect  of  this  theme  also  impresses  this 
final  lesson,  that  they  who  are  the  professed  disci- 
ples of  such  a  Master  will  be  themselves  trust- 
worthy. Critics  have  sometimes  discussed  the 
question  whether  in  the  word,  faith,  the  radical 
idea  is  trust  or  trustiness;  whether  a  man  should 
be  called  a  believer  because  he  confides  in  Christ, 
or  because  he  is  of  such  stuff  that  Christ  confides 


40  THE  SENSITIVE  VERACITY  OF  JESUS. 

in  him.  But  the  full  Biblical  view  is  that  the 
believer  becomes  trusty  by  reason  of  his  trust  in 
the  trustworthy  Redeemer.  When  Peter  said: 
"  Thou  art  the  Christ,"  the  Master  replied,  "  Thou 
art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church." 
Building  on  the  Rock,  one  becomes  of  a  piece  with 
it.  True  faith  grows  into  faithfulness.  Resting 
on  him  who  is  the  truth,  we  become  people  on 
whose  word  the  world  may  rely,  people  who  can 
be  trusted  in  the  business  and  intercourse  of  earth 
as  well  as  in  the  Father's  house  above.  In  those 
parts  of  the  oriental  world  where  English  and 
American  missionaries  labor,  they  and  the  natives 
who  profess  to  follow  their  teachings  are  proverbi- 
ally spoken  of  as  the  religionists  who  do  not  lie, 
whose  word  may  be  taken  for  all  it  naturally 
means.  That  is  a  gratifying  tribute.  But  the 
wonder  is  that  any  follower  of  such  a  Master  as 
Christ  should  deserve,  or  even  seem  to  deserve,  any 
different  tribute.  "  I  have  no  greater  joy,"  wrote 
the  Apostle  John,  "  than  to  hear  that  my  children 
walk  in  truth."  We,  who  are  parents,  pastors, 
teachers,  can  have  no  greater  joy. 


III. 

THE  UNAPPEOPKIATED  GOOD. 

'^  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and 
dost  thou  not  know  me,  Philip  f  "--John  14:  9. 

T)HILIP  had  now  been  three  years  with  Jesus. 

^  Yet  he  had  not  discovered  that  Jesus  was  so 
related  to  the  Father,  that  whoever  had  seen  the 
Son  of  Man,  had  seen,  so  far  as  finite  vision  can 
see,  the  Infinite  Father.  What  a  world  there  was 
in  Philip's  Master  which  it  had  not  entered  into 
the  disciple's  mind  to  conceive  !  Let  our  theme 
be  the  unappropriated  good  there  is  in  Christ. 

1.  The  fact  of  much  good  lying  near  one  and 
yet  for  a  long  time  unused  is  a  common  fact.  At 
least  two  hundred  generations  of  men  have  lived 
in  the  presence  of  this  material  world;  but  there  are 
wonderful  powers  and  useful  properties  in  nature 
which  have  been  brought  to  light  only  within  a 
few  years.  So  familiar  to  us  is  this  fact,  that 
we  keep  ourselves  all  the  time  astonished  at  the 
ignorance  of  the  ages  which  have  been  before  us. 
It  used  to  be  therefore  a  healthful  antidote   to 


42  THE   UNAPPROPRIATED   GOOD. 

our  modern  complacency  when  some  of  us,  in 
our  younger  days,  used  to  hear  Wendell  Phillips 
lecture,  perhaps  at  the  hundredth  repetition,  on 
the  Lost  Arts,  and  show  to  us  that  the  ancients 
knew  some  secrets  of  nature  which  the  men  of 
the  nineteenth  century  have  utterly  failed  to 
reclaim.  Our  subject  does  not  require  us  to 
champion  either  the  past  or  the  present.  They 
who  glorify  the  age  w^e  live  in  and  those  who  look 
fondly  back  to  some  golden  days  of  antiquity,  alike 
testify  to  the  fact  that  it  is  the  most  common 
thing  for  us  to  live  very  close  to  realities  and 
beauties  and  utilities,  of  which  we  have  no  per- 
ception. Multitudes  of  men,  thirty  years  ago, 
roamed  about  California  for  gold  and  never 
dreamed  that  it  would  produce  the  finest  wheat. 
There  have  been  critics  who,  looking  upon  the 
present  barrenness  of  the  Holy  Land,  have  argued 
that  that  land  could  not  possibly  have  sustained 
the  population  and  amassed  the  wealth  which 
make  famous  the  epoch  of  Solomon.  The  ex- 
humed ruins  of  the  oriental  world  have  refuted 
the  argument.  Those  ruins  therefore  declare 
that  through  long  centuries  the  Moslem  and 
the  Christian  alike  have  been  living  in  a  country 
whose  resources  are  vast ;  the  power  of  appropri- 
ation   only   has    been    wanting.      Our    ears    are 


THE   UNAPPROPRIATED  GOOD.  43 

dinned  so  mucli  with  the  thesis  that  the  peculiar 
physical  geography,  yes,  the  geology  of  a  country, 
makes  its  history,  that  we  forget  the  other  thesis, 
which  may  as  truly  be  maintained,  that  the  history 
of  many  lands  has  been  poor,  because  the  races 
which  inhabited  them  have  lost,  or  never  had, 
grip  on  the  generous  nature  of  things  which 
surrounded  them.  The  political  economist,  when 
he  discusses  the  situation  in  Ireland,  turns  his 
eyes  away  to  portions  of  the  island,  where  the 
land  is  equally,  where  it  may  be  much,  inferior. 
There,  he  says,  the  peasant  owns  his  homestead. 
"  The  magic  of  property  turns  the  sand  into  gold." 
How  much  sand  there  is  which  has  not  received 
this  golden  transmutation  ! 

It  is  not,  then,  a  singular  fact  that  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  good  in  Christ  which  men  have  not 
made  their  own.  He  has  been  a  long  time  in 
the  world ;  yet  the  world  has  not  really  known 
him.  His  light  has  sliined  many  years  in  the 
darkness,  but  the  darkness  has  comprehended 
it  not.  When  one  is  reading  the  story  of  the 
middle  ages,  he  sees  the  processions  of  crusaders 
go  and  come ;  they  move  in  thousands  ;  Europe 
seems  nothing  but  a  camp  of  men  wearing  the 
cross ;  Christ's  name  is  on  every  lip.  But  a 
sober  reader  of  the  New  Testament  finds  it  diffi- 


44  THE   UNAPPROPRIATED  GOOD. 

cult  to  recognize  the  lineaments  of  the  Master 
in  the  great  mass  of  these  devotees.  Their  bones 
whitened  on  the  holy  fields  of  Palestine,  but 
their  deeds  were  as  if  they  had  never  known 
the  sacred  name  they  bore.  One  may  see,  too, 
even  now,  jeweled  crosses  worn  on  the  persons 
of  men  and  women,  but  it  will  often  sadden  him 
to  be  compelled  to  judge  that  these  persons 
have  seen  scarcely  anything  in  the  cross,  except 
the  jewel,  which  is  wonderful  or  potent  to  them. 

2.  Yet  common,  commonplace  even,  as  is  this 
fact  of  unappropriated  good,  it  is  nevertheless 
startling.  To  take  a  familiar  example  from  the 
trade  of  the  world.  Within  a  short  period, 
petroleum  has  become  one  of  the  great  staples. 
Its  lights  are  kindled  in  every  part  of  the  globe, 
as  often  as  evening  returns.  The  amount  of  this 
product  yielded  from  flowing  wells  has  been 
simply  enormous.  The  uses  in  the  arts  are 
manifold.  It  is  not,  however,  startling  to  think 
that  for  thirty-five  years  before  1854,  those 
fountains  were  known  to  exist  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  upper  waters  of  the  Ohio,  and  yet  for 
thirty-five  years  they  remained  almost  unused  ! 
Men  owned  farms  which  covered  fabulous  wealth, 
but  were  unconscious  of  it. 

Let   us   cite   an    equally   familiar,   while   more 


THE   UNAPPROPRIATED  GOOD.  45 

startling,  example  from  Christian  biography. 
When  John  Wesley  returned  from  his  missionary 
tour  to  America,  he  had  been  living  a  strict 
religious  life  for  sixteen  or  seventeen  years.  He 
had  been  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Club  of 
students  at  Oxford.  Yet,  he  writes  in  his  journal, 
I  went  to  America  to  convert  the  Indians,  but  O, 
who  shall  convert  me?  He  deplores  his  low 
moral  condition.  He  has  no  joy  of  divine 
acceptance.  What  a  strange  thing  it  is  that 
such  a  man,  who  is  described  by  one  historian 
as  "  of  healthful  temperament,  of  rare  intelligence, 
of  logical  astuteness,  who  had  read  every  line 
of  Holy  Scripture  in  the  very  language  in  which 
prophet  or  apostle  had  penned  it,"  that  such  a 
man,  after  many  years  of  diligent  search,  should 
be  stumbling  over  the  very  cross  on  which  his 
salvation  had  been  worked  out !  A  few  days 
after  this  sad  confession  was  made,  he  appropri- 
ated one  verse  of  the  familiar  words  of  Christ, 
which  a  woman  repeated  in  his  hearing,  and 
instantly  his  soul  sprang  into  marvellous  light, 
liberty  and  power.  In  that  single  verse  he  ate 
the  bread  in  the  strength  of  which  he  went 
preaching  for  fifty-three  years.  But  that  bread 
had  been  in  his  mouth,  we  must  suppose  also  in 
his  very  heart,  yet  he  had  not  tasted  this  sweet- 


46  THE  UNAPPROPRIATED   GOOD. 

ness  and  power  before.  He  had  lived  with  hardly 
a  partition,  only  a  thin  veil,  between  him  and  the 
large  room  of  his  Redeemer's  favor,  and  yet  had 
never  entered  that  room.  Time  and  again,  his 
foot  was  on  the  threshold,  the  door  itself  was  ajar, 
still  he  continued  to  forego  the  open  privileges  of 
his  Father's  house. 

Some  of  our  pioneers  tell  us  how  near  they 
were  to  being  rich.  They  were  just  about  to  buy 
a  piece  of  land  which  is  now  worth  millions  of 
dollars.  They  go  back  in  their  thoughts  and 
almost  tremble  to  think  into  what  close  neighbor- 
hood they  came  to  the  millionaires.  But  one's 
heart  must  be  more  tremulous  when  he  reflects 
that  not  once,  but  many  times  he  has  been  not 
far  from  the  Kingdom  of  God  !  This  is  the 
thought  which  in  Lowell's  poem,  "  Extreme 
Unction,"  rings  on  like  a  knell.  In  the  poem 
are  the  words  supposed  to  be  used  by  one  who 
has  come  to  death's  door,  a  mere  worldling. 
To  have  come  thither,  earthly  and  unspiritual, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  "  Christ  still  was 
wandering  o'er  the  earth,"  to  recollect  that  his 
hands  have  held  all  along  "  the  keys  of  darkness 
and  of  morn" — 

"  Mine  held  them  once  ;   I  flung  away 
Those  keys  that  might  have  open  set 
The  golden  sluices  of  the  day, 

But  clutch  the  keys  of  darkness  yet ; " 


THE    UNAPPROPRIATED  GOOD,  47 

to  have  had  Christ's  good  within  our  reach  and 
all  its  wealth  ready  to  fall  into  our  hands  and 
to  find  those  hands  empty,  that  is  indeed  a 
startling  thought. 

For  while  the  thought  of  unappropriated  good 
in  Christ  is  startling,  that  is  partly  because  it  most 
commonly  is  also  reproachful.  Was  there  not  the 
tone  of  reproach  in  the  question  which  the  Master 
addressed  to  Philip?  "Have  I  been  so  long  time 
with  you  and  yet  thou  hast  not  known  me,  Philip?" 
The  implication  is  that  the  disciple  might  have 
been  expected  to  know  more. 

A  friend  may  expect  his  friends  to  discover  more 
quickly  than  others  what  is  good  in  him.  Will 
they  not  have  an  intuitive  insight  of  his  worth? 
They  do  not  require  him  to  unfold  in  detail  and 
labored  explanation  all  his  excellence.  A  look, 
the  tones  of  the  voice,  the  trivial  act  disclose  the 
secret.  To  St.  Paul,  the  "riches  of  Christ"  were 
"unsearchable."  To  "win  Christ"  and  "the 
excellency  of  the  knowledge  "  of  him,  he  counted 
all  things  else  loss.  His  great  desire  respecting 
his  followers  was  that  they  might  "comprehend  what 
is  the  breadth  and  length  and  depth  and  height, 
and  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowl- 
edge." These  are  very  warm  expressions.  They 
indicate  some  marvellous  good  which  is  hidden  to 


48  THE  UNAPPROPRIATED  GOOD. 

many  eyes.  But  it  is  not  for  want  of  mere  vision 
that  a  man  does  not  perceive  the  beauty  of  the 
Yosemite  Valley.  There  must  be  a  deeper  defect. 
So  the  explanation  which  in  the  Bible  underlies 
the  failure  on  the  part  of  men  to  apprehend  Chris- 
tian truth  is  moral.  "  If  any  man  will  do  his  will, 
he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine."  When  therefore 
we  speak  of  unappropriated  good  we  imply  some 
fault  of  the  heart.  This  it  is  which  so  often 
draws  the  vail  over  our  eyes  whether  we  are  read- 
ing the  Old  or  the  New  Testament. 

The  Master  himself  expressed  his  surprise  at 
the  appreciation  given  him  by  foreigners.  How 
often  a  similar  surprise  has  brought,  by  compari- 
son, reproach  to  those  who  bear  the  Christian 
name!  We  sometimes  find  citizens  of  alien  birth, 
who  are  more  ardently  and  intelligently  American 
than  those  born  and  trained  on  our  own  soil.  If 
that  be  to  the  credit  of  the  foreigner,  it  is  not  to 
the  honor  of  some  among  our  own  people.  When 
I  go  into  a  neighbor's  house  and  find  that  the  un- 
lettered servant,  even  though  he  be  a  Chinaman, 
has  an  appreciation  of  Christ,  which  his  master  and 
master's  family  have  not,  I  blush.  Cases  are  on 
record  of  eminent  scholars,  who  though  trained 
in  the  University,  were  unable  to  spell;  some 
little  child  might  easily  correct  them.     Difficult 


THE   UNAPPROPRIATED   GOOD.  49 

as  English  spelling  is,  no  such  scholar  could 
wholly  escape  the  feeling  of  shame.  But  how 
much  moi'e  frequent  it  is  for  men  and  women  in 
our  day  to  make  even  a  boast  of  culture,  to  acquire 
a  deserved  name  for  scholarship  in  the  sciences  and 
arts,  and  yet  to  miss  of  knowing  Christ  as  their  own 
Saviour.  Classmates  of  these  very  persons  go 
forth  and  in  the  name  of  Christ  redeem  ignorant 
and  debased  races,  so  that  they  become  clothed 
and  in  their  right  mind,  but  these  persons  them- 
selves live  without  faith  and  die  without  hope.  I 
withhold  no  tribute  of  admiration  or  of  personal 
indebtedness  which  is  due  to  a  woman  like  George 
Eliot,  or  a  man  like  Thomas  Carlyle,  but  it  must 
ever  remain  a  mortification  that  their  eyes  were 
holden  so  that  they  did  not  see  Christ  in  the  full- 
ness of  his  person  and  the  beneficence  of  his  work- 
ing as  the  Divine  Saviour  of  the  world. 

But  if  in  one  point  of  view  the  thought  of  unap- 
propriated good  in  Christ  is  reproachful,  in 
another  it  is  stimulating.  The  good  is  in  him.  It 
waits  to  be  made  our  own. 

It  was  and  still  is  the  dismal  theory  of  some 
reasoners  in  social  science,  that  the  time  must 
come  when  in  the  increase  of  the  world's  popula- 
tion, the  earth  cannot  sustain  its  inhabitants,  and 
starvation,   freezing  and  what  not    must    ensue. 


50  THE   UNAPPROPRIATED  GOOD. 

But  we  are  learning  more  and  more  that  the  earth 
has  a  vast  amount  of  undiscovered  resources.  As 
fast  as  the  exigencies  of  the  race  require  new  sup- 
plies, the  earth  seems  to  have  hidden  within  its 
heart  those  very  supplies.  While  men  have  been 
calculating  just  how  long  the  present  known  coal 
fields  will  hold  out,  new  deposits  have  been  dis- 
covered. There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  for  the 
purposes  of  human  existence,  our  globe  is  prac- 
tically inexhaustible.  Such  a  supposition  is  a 
wonderful  incentive  to  enterprise  and  progress. 
It  is  possible  to  fall  to  musing  about  the  thinkers 
who  have  gone  before  us  in  such  a  way  as  to  be 
discouraged.  For  we  may  say,  those  men  have  ex- 
hausted the  fields  of  thought.  But  that  is 
not  the  way  the  young  investigators  feel.  To 
them,  the  world  is  not  like  the  worn-out  diggings 
which  disfigure  our  mining  scenery.  It  is  full  of 
virgin  mines,  richer  than  any  which  have  been 
opened  in  former  centuries. 

A  similar  thought  impels  the  disciples  of  Christ. 
For  in  him  are  still  hid  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom 
and  knowledge  in  the  realm  of  the  religious  and 
moral  life  of  men.  He  is  still  the  one  person  who 
actually  saves  sinners  from  sin.  His  power  to  do 
this  is  as  full  and  inexhaustible  to-day  as  it  was 
eighteen   centuries   ago.       His   name   is   efficient 


THE    UNAPPROPRIATED  GOOD.  51 

among  more  millions  of  the  human  family  than  it 
was  ever  before.  His  is  the  one  really  advancing 
religion  of  our  age.  Despite,  too,  all  the  theolo- 
gies which  have  been  written,  and  the  creeds  which 
have  been  framed,  the  Christ  of  whom  we  read  in 
the  Gospels  and  whose  doctrine  was  further  un- 
folded in  the  Epistles,  is  greater  than  the  theolo- 
gies and  the  creeds.  The  student  who  would  be 
freshest  and  most  affective,  is  always  the  one  who 
goes  back  to  the  historical  redeemer,  who  drinks 
not  so  much  from  any  stream  as  from  the  fountain. 
If  there  be  so  much  latent  good  in  Christ,  it 
shows  a  miserable  poverty  of  appreciation  to  set- 
tle down  early  with  the  conceit  of  a  finished  edu- 
cation. Perhaps  the  saddest  thought  a  pastor  has 
springs  up  in  connection  with  school  anniversaries. 
It  is  the  thought  that  so  many  who  leave  school  will 
never  really  study  any  more.  They  go  to  buying 
and  selling,  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage,  ply- 
ing various  industries  and  vocations,  but  they 
never  set  themselves  patiently  and  ardently  to 
learn  any  more  of  the  secrets  of  God's  world.  It  is 
not  pleasant  for  me  to  think  so  even  concerning 
one's  geography  or  history.  But  it  is  irrepressi- 
bly  painful  to  think  so  concerning  one's  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  the  divine  life.  Yet  it  has  been 
given   me  to   be  so  sanguine   and   hopeful  with 


52  THE   UNAPPROPRIATED   GOOD. 

respect  to  many  a  young  scholar;  slie  seemed  to 
have  so  much  promise;  her  religious  life  would 
certainly  grow  so  beautiful;  but  it  has  been  given 
me  to  see  all  that  promise  blighted  by  the  first 
touch  of  this  coarse  vain  life  that  roars  so 
greedily  about  us.  To  advance  no  more;  to  be 
stunted ;  to  have  the  old  look  of  the  dwarf  come 
over  the  face,  but  to  lose  the  perennial  freshness 
of  countenance  that  comes  off  the  eager  and 
growing  soul,  that  is  very  hard  to  see.  To  speak 
of  finishing  one's  education  in  anything  is  very 
weak.  But  to  entertain  the  notion  of  graduating 
in  Christianity  is  a  profanation.  To  leave  sun- 
day-school  or  church  at  fourteen  or  twenty-one 
or  fifty,  as  if  there  were  no  more  for  us  to  gain 
in  that  realm,  is  both  shameful  and  absurd.  We 
reach  no  age,  as  individuals  or  as  a  race,  in  which 
we  have  outgrown  the  Christian  faith,  any  more 
than  we  reach  an  age  that  has  outgrown  the 
stars.  We  may  look  at  both  the  faith  and  the 
stars  with  better  vision.  We  may  sweep  the 
heaven  with  a  telescope  or  discover  their  secrets 
with  the  spectroscope.  But  the  stars  are  not 
dwarfed;  they  are  more  wonderful  than  ever. 

Our  theme  emphasizes  the  fitness  of  an  ex- 
pectant mind  with  reference  to  our  personal  re- 
ligious experience  and  growth.     It  is  perhaps  the 


THE   UNAPPROPRIATED   GOOD.  53 

greatest  misfortune  that  can  befall  the  learner 
to  drop  down  into  a  dull,  unexpectant  mood. 
He  may  plod,  but  he  has  lost  inspiration.  This 
danger  besets  the  nominally  religious  life.  For 
how  many  seem  to  stay  in  the  feeling:  I  am  not 
what  I  ought  to  be;  my  religion  is  not  like  a  well 
of  water  within  me ;  it  is  not  a  constant  incentive 
to  joyous  and  holy  activity  ;  but  then  I  do  not 
suppose  I  shall  be  very  different  till  I  die.  My 
friend,  there  is  so  much  good  in  Christ  that  you 
should  and  may  live  in  precisely  the  opposite  feel- 
ing. Why  should  you  not  rather  be  thinking — Who 
knows  but  that  to-day,  to-night,  in  the  morning  of 
to-morrow,  as  I  shall  be  about  my  daily  task  or  in 
connection  with  some  new  burden  to  be  borne,  I 
may  fall  heir  to  some  special  grace,  be  taken  up 
into  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  made  to  have  light, 
peace,  devotion,  higher  by  many  degrees  than  I 
have  had  before?  Such  things  have  happened  in 
thousands  and  millions  of  lives.  Dr.  Jessup, 
of  Syria,  relates  that  that  peerless  American 
scholar,  Dr.  Henry  B.  Smith,  told  his  students 
that  when  he  was  studying  in  Germany,  he 
fell  into  a  poor,  feeble,  distracted  piety.  His 
struggle  with  rationalism  was  sharp  and  intense. 
*^  But,*'  he  said,  "  in  the  midst  of  it  all  there  came 
before  me  a  vision  of  Christ,  so  distinct,  sweet,  of 


54  THE  UNAPPROPRIATED  GOOD. 

Christ  as  a  person,  a  living,  divine  and  human 
Saviour,  that  all  shadows  were  driven  away  and  I 
never  doubted  more."  Such  visions  and  uplift 
may  come  to  any  of  you.  It  should  be  expected 
to  come.  For  the  unappropriated  good  in  the 
Master  is  so  great  that  giving  cannot  impoverish 
him  and  the  possibilities  of  quickened  power  from 
him  are  beyond  measure. 

Our  theme  helps  us  to  courage  with  reference  to 
the  great  work  of  overcoming  the  world.  The  task 
which  was  waiting  for  Philip  and  the  rest  of  the 
disciples,  if  it  could  have  been  shown  to  them  in 
all  its  dimensions  and  intensity,  would  have 
crushed  them.  There  are  hours  in  all  thoughtful 
lives  when  the  very  conception  of  the  great  Chris- 
tian undertaking  amazes  and  almost  palsies.  So 
many  millions  to  be  uplifted  and  the  depth  to 
which  they  have  sunk  so  very  far  below  the 
moral  height  to  which  the  gospel  summons  them! 
Our  little  efforts  seem  so  small.  It  is  like  sweep- 
ing back  the  ocean  to  reform  mankind.  Multi- 
tudes of  cultivated  minds  are  accustomed  even  to 
sneer  at  missions,  while  large  groups  of  zeal- 
ous men  and  women,  though  bearing  the  Christian 
message,  point  to  the  vanity  of  supposing  that  the 
world  will  ever  be  converted  by  the  preaching  of 
the   cross.     And   we   might   easily  fall   into  this 


THE   UNAPPROPRIATED  GOOD.  55 

doubtful  habit  of  looking  at  the  business  the 
Master  has  put  into  our  hands,  unless  we  catch  the 
suggestion  of  the  inexhaustible  resources  in  the 
world's  Saviour.  There  is  more  in  him  than  man 
has  yet  known.  The  surpises  of  Pentecost  will 
be  repeated.  For  he  will  not  fail  nor  be  dis- 
couraged till  he  has  set  judgment  on  the  earth. 
It  is  like  him  to  do  wonders. 


IV. 
ANOTHER  COMFORTER. 

"  And  I  will  pray  the  Father  and  he   shall   give    you  another 
Comforter,  that  he  may  be  with  you  forever.^''— John  14 :  16. 

nPHE  Bible  is  a  revelation  :  that  is  to  say,  it 
■^  tells  us  truths  about  God  and  our  salvation 
which  otherwise  we  should  not  know,  or  should 
know  less  perfectly.  It  is  a  progressive  revelation: 
that  is  to  say,  some  truths  were  revealed  at  the 
later  periods  much  more  perfectly  than  at  the 
earlier.  This  statement  is  illustrated  by  the 
promise  of  the  Comforter  mentioned  in  the  text. 
The  reality  and  working  of  the  Spirit  of  God  were 
not  unknown  even  to  those  who  read  only  the 
book  of  Genesis.  For  are  we  not  told  in  the  very 
first  verse  that  "the  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon 
the  face  of  the  waters  "  ?  But  the  fuller  realization 
of  this  power  came  only  when  the  Saviour  had 
finished  the  work  he  wrought  in  our  human  flesh. 
Now,  some  persons  are  disposed  to  regard  these 
successive  disclosures  of  truth  as  burdens.  They 
talk  as  the  inferior  half  of  boys  and  girls  do,  in 


58  ANOTHER  COMFORTER. 

the  inferior  moods  of  their  conversation,  concern- 
ing the  Various  studies  given  them  to  learu.  I 
wish,  says  one  of  these  students,  that  there  was 
no  such  rule  as  fractions ;  but  history  is  my 
abomination,  rejoins  another  :  and,  as  for 
grammar,  adds  a  third,  it  was  invented  to  plague 
us.  Yet,  when  these  children  have  got  so  far  as 
to  see  the  connection  these  studies  have  with  the 
business  or  the  intercourse  and  culture  of  life, 
they  may  regard  these  studies  as  far  greater  helps 
than  burdens. 

The  disciples  to  whom  our  text  was  spoken, 
might  have  queried,  Is  not  this  a  strange  time  to 
load  us  down  with  mysterious  teachings  ?  In 
this  hour  of  darkness  are  we  to  have  another 
addition  to  our  creed  ?  Yes,  the  creed  was  to  be 
enlarged  ;  but  it  was  enlarged  by  adding  "  another 
Comforter."  Such  enlargement  might  be  likened 
to  the  addition  of  the  masts  and  sails  to  a  yacht. 
Will  they  not  take  up  room  and  bring  weight,  and 
require  time  and  labor  to  handle  them  well  ?  The 
answer  must  be.  Yes.  But  much  as  the  masts  and 
sails  add  to  the  weight  the  vessel  has  to  carry, 
they  add  many-fold  to  its  speed  and  power.  So  I 
shall  hope  to  show  as  to  the  fuller  doctrine  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

One   of  the   truths   contained   in   this  doctrine 


ANOTHER   COMFORTER.  59 

is  that  some  spirit,  purer  and  truer  than  our 
own,  waits  to  dwell  in  us.  He  is  holy,  the  spirit 
of  truth.  Have  not  most  of  us  a  good  deal  of 
trouble  with  the  spirit  that  often  shows  itself 
in  our  daily  conduct  ?  It  is  weak,  or  mean, 
ungracious,  uncomfortable,  selfish.  It  needs  as- 
sociation with,  the  control  of,  somenobler  presence. 
Far  back  in  the  days  of  ancient  Greece,  it  seemed 
to  that  wise  man,  Socrates,  so  he  was  wont  to  say, 
as  if  some  voice  were  speaking  to  him,  the  voice 
of  a  monitor,  a  guide  wiser  than  his  own  mind. 
When  he  lay  in  prison  and  his  friends  would 
tempt  him  to  save  his  life  by  escape,  he  repre- 
sented himself  as  hearing  arguments  that  were 
more  persuasive  than  theirs.  They  came  from  this 
invisible  companion.  "I  seem  to  hear  it  mur- 
muring in  my  ears  like  the  sound  of  a  flute  ; 
that  voice  is  humming  in  my  ears  and  prevents 
me  from  hearing  any  other."  But  this  wise  man 
did  not  count  this  voice  a  hindrance.  It  elevated 
his  manhood ;  it  gave  a  strange  moral  depth  to 
his  conversations.  But  the  Biblical  teaching  is 
that  the  very  spirit  of  truth  and  holiness  waits  to 
become  a  resident  in  every  man.  Your  sons  and 
daughters,  your  old  men  and  your  young  men, 
your  servants  and  handmaids  may  see  its  visions 
and  dream  its  dreams. 


60  ANOTHER  COMFORTER. 

A  second  truth  embraced  in  this  doctrine  is  that 
the  Spirit  who  thus  seeks  to  abide  in  the  heart  is 
truly  and  properly  divine.  The  great  Greek  moral- 
ist thought  of  the  voice  which  spoke  to  him  as  that 
of  some  one  of  many  divinities.  And  men  have 
been  worthily  moved  to  better  things  when  they 
have  felt  that  the  invisible  presence  of  a  deceased 
father,  mother  or  friend  was  warning  or  guiding 
them.  But  the  Spirit  promised  by  our  Saviour 
was  none  other,  none  less  than  that  of  him  in 
whom  we  live  and  have  our  being.  For,  concern- 
him,  St.  Paul  asks,  "For  what  man  knoweth  the 
things  of  a  man  save  the  spirit  of  man  whicJi  is 
in  him  :  even  so,  the  things  of  God  knoweth  no 
man  but  the  Spirit  of  God."  Besides,  it  is  the 
same  Spirit  which  dwells  at  the  same  instant  in 
thousands  and  millions  of  persons  whose  earthly 
homes  are  farasunder.  One  may  now  inquire,  if  this 
is  not  a  large  article  of  faith  to  lay  upon  the  mind, 
that  the  creative  Spirit  himself  will  come  into 
intimate  union  with  any  lowly  child  of  clay  ? 
Yes,  it  is  a  great  belief,  but  it  is  a  great  comfort 
as  well.  Would  it  have  lessened  Socrates'  satis- 
faction in  his  guardian  genius  if  he  had  ventured 
to  think  that  the  inward  monitor  was  not  a  divine 
messenger  only,  but  God  himself  ?  When  she  was 
but  a  maiden,  Sarah  Pierrepont  cherished  the  idea 


ANOTHER   COMFORTER.  61 

that  tlie  Great  Being  who  made  the  world  came 
to  her  in  her  quiet  hours  of  though tfulness  and 
prayer.  That  idea  is  vast  enough  to  overwhelm  the 
soul.  But  it  did  not  overwhelm,  it  gave  her  a  singu- 
lar peace  and  purity.  It  did  not  add  to  her  tasks 
save  as  wings  are  an  addition  to  a  bird.  The 
weight  of  the  feathers  is  a  trifle  as  compared  to 
the  power  given  by  them  to  fly  the  fields  of  air. 
It  does  verily  task  our  credence  to  entertain  the 
conviction  that  there  may  be  personal  fellowship 
with  the  maker  of  heaven  and  earth.  Behold,  the 
heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain  thee,  how  much 
less  the  little  house  which  the  single  soul  inhabits  ! 
But  the  conviction  is  more  rewarding  than  it  is 
tasking. 

The  third  truth  revealed  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  involves  the  fact  that  in  some  way  the 
Spirit,  while  one  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  is 
distinguishable  from  each.  So  even  our  text  im- 
plies. It  is  the  Son,  who  is  speaking:  "/  will 
pray  the  Father  and  the  Father  shall  give  you 
another  comforter,  not  him  whom  you  have  had 
the  last  three  years,  but  another."  So  this  simple, 
unlabored  verse  carries  in  it  the  great  mystery  of 
the  Trinity.  Here,  then,  the  Christian  revelation 
is  often  regarded  as  making  large  drafts  on  the 
human  understanding.     For  how  can  we  compass 


.62  ANOTHER  COMFORTER. 

the  thought  that  God  is  one,  and  yet  he  can  be 
spoken  of  as  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost  at  the 
the  same  moment?  Even  when  what  the  Scriptures 
teach  is  made  over  into  the  carefully  worded 
creeds  of  the  Church,  those  careful  words  expose 
difficulties  quite  as  much  as  they  resolve  them. 
And  yet  our  Christian  faith  continually  brings 
this  teaching  to  our  attention.  For  we  open  our 
services  with  the  doxology  and  close  them  with 
the  benediction,  and  we  cannot  put  the  Gospel  into 
the  simplest  statement  without  suggesting  the 
Trinity. 

But  the  very  fact  that  this  doctrine  is  sung  in 
the  Church  from  age  to  age,  carries  with  it  the 
assurance  that,  however  deep  the  mystery  of  it, 
there  must  be  lying  in  its  heart  a  world  of  comfort. 
And  experience  shows  that,  in  the  history  of 
human  thought,  this  mysterious  truth  is  the  very 
one  by  which  alone  is  maintained  the  living  and 
effective  belief  in  one  God,  who  is  holy  and  loving. 
No  doubt  many  individuals,  who  decline  to  assent 
to  the  technical  creed  of  the  Trinity,  have  never- 
theless a  hearty  and  fruitful  confidence  in  the 
Father  of  us  all,  but  they  were  trained  in  the 
atmosphere  of  the  Scriptures  and  have  been  edu- 
cated and  molded  by  the  very  truth  which  they 
formally  deny  or  fail  to  accept.     And  while  some. 


ANOTHER  COMFORTER,  63 

ever  and  anon,  troubled  by  the  intellectual  prob- 
lem they  cannot  solve,  drop  this  high  article  of  the 
faith,  yet  others  who  thought  to  find  content  in  the 
bare  unity  of  God,  have  been  constrained  by  their 
spiritual  necessities  to  revert  to  the  Trinitarian 
conception.  Few  men  ever  strove  to  hold  the  uni- 
tarian way  of  thinking  more  ably  or  honestly  than 
Dr.  Huntington,  who  now  for  so  many  years  has 
been  a  Bishop  in  one  of  the  dioceses  of  the  Episco- 
pal Church.  But  after  many  years  of  service  as  a 
preacher,  he  was  moved  to  write  the  marked  dis- 
course, entitled,  "  Life,  Salvation  and  Comfort  for 
man  in  the  Divine  Trinity."  Few  events  were  more 
full  of  suggestion  than  the  conversations  and  other 
public  utterances  in  which  that  veteran  trancend- 
entalist,  Mr.  Alcott,  a  few  years  ago,  expressed 
his  conviction  that  no  complete  rest  for  the  re- 
ligious mind  was  to  be  found  save  in  the  distinct  and 
decided  recognition  of  the  revelation  of  God  that 
is  made  in  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost 
These  instances  alone  are  enough  to  show  that  the 
very  doctrine,  which,  on  its  speculative  side,  may 
occasion  perplexity,  may  bring  a  great  satisfaction 
to  the  reason  and  the  heart.  Faraday,  the  chemist, 
was  a  humble  and  warm  disciple  of  Christ,  a  man 
of  prayer.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  Prof.  Tyn- 
dall,  not  generally  regarded  as  a  believer,    once 


64  ANOTHER  COMFORTER. 

heard  him  offer  a  brief  prayer,  and  the  Professor 
described  it  as  the  "the  petition  of  a  son,  into 
whose  heart  God  had  sent  the  Spirit  of  his  Son 
and  who  with  absolute  trust  asked  a  blessing  from 
his  Father.''  That  is,  genuine,  evangelical  prayer 
is  best  described  in  the  very  language  which 
involves,  and,  indeed,  expressly  utters,  the  full 
doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Surely  any  truth  in 
the  light  of  which;"  as  matter  of  fact,  the  sinful 
soul  gets  the  Spirit  of  adoption  and  so  is  enabled  to 
say,  Abba  Father,  as  an  accepted  child,  has  more 
comfort  than  it  brings  burden. 

A  fourth  truth  connected  with  the  doctrine  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures. 
"  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God." 
"Holy  men  spake  of  old  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Spirit."  And  there  is  good  reason  to 
conclude  that  the  immediate  reason  why  the 
departing  Saviour  promised  the  Comforter  to  his 
apostles  was  because  they  were  to  bear  an  oral  and 
written  witness  to  him  which  would  abide  in  his 
Church  forever.  In  consequence  of  this  especial 
work  of  the  Spirit  we  have  the  authoritative 
volume  we  call  the  Bible.  Now,  it  is  possible  to 
conceive  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  in 
such  a  way  as  to  make  it  an  imposition.  Men  may 
say,  it  increases  the  number  and  gravity  of  various 


(trNIVERSITT) 

ANOTHER  cb^O^T^^^^^^^p,^^^^       65 

problems.  Men  wrest  it  to  their  own  destruction. 
They  wrangle  over  it.  They  prove  anything  they 
choose  by  it.  We  need  not  deny  this.  We  may 
concede  and  deplore  it.  Still  the  facts  show 
that,  wherever  the  Bible  is  received  and 
obeyed  as  the  work  of  men  moved  of  God's  spirit, 
it  brings  many  times  more  comfort  than  it  brings 
burdens.  It  follows  the  analogy  of  all  knowledge. 
Does  not  the  theory  of  atoms  raise  questions? 
Yes,  but  the  scientist  says,  it  clears  up  many 
questions  also.  Picking  out  the  difficulties  raised 
by  the  claim  of  the  Scriptures  to  have  been 
inspired,  it  has  been  possible  for  some  men  to 
assert  that  such  a  view  of  the  book  is  an  incubus 
on  the  intellect.  But  in  the  very  towns  and  cities 
where  this  assertion  is  made  are  thousands  of 
people  who  have  been  redeemed,  in  both  their 
understanding  and  life,  because  they  have  treated 
the  Bible  as  if  it  were  the  very  word  of  God.  In 
the  little  British  province  of  Natal  there  was  some 
years  ago  a  learned  Bishop  who  spent  much  time 
in  showing  how  many  difficulties  arise  in  relation 
to  the  narratives  given  in  the  Pentateuch,  supposing 
it  to  be  other  than  a  purely  human  work.  No 
doubt  the  effect  of  the  Bishop's  treatises  was  to 
convey  the  impression  that  some  conceptions  of 
inspiration  are  a  weight.     Yet  just  across  the  sea 


66  ANOTHER  COMFORTER. 

from  where  he  wrote,  on  the  island  of  Madagascar, 
in  the  same  time,  at  least  60,000  then,  many  more 
now,  came  up  out  of  their  idolatry  and  degradation. 
And  it  can  be  shown  that  it  was  the  Bible,  believed 
to  be  the  word  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  which  caused 
this  wonderful  change;  because  for  years  every 
missionary  was  driven  from  the  island  and  the 
germs  of  the  movement  were  kept  alive  by  the  few 
copies  of  the  Scriptures  which  the  persecuted  con  - 
verts  counted  more  precious  than  their  life. 
Besides,  we  are  to  remember  that  the  inspiration 
promised  by  our  Saviour  had  a  larger  reference 
than  merely  to  secure  or  confirm  our  reverence  for 
the  book;  it  was  a  guarantee  that  there  should 
come  a  power  which  should  open  the  volume  to 
the  mind;  so  that  men  should  no  longer,  in  reading 
either  the  Old  or  the  New  Testament,  have  a  veil 
over  their  eyes,  but  that  should  take  place  which 
took  place,  when  Jesus  himself  explained  the 
prophets  to  the  two  disciples,  the  heart  should  burn 
in  sight  of  the  illuminated  pages.  Now,  "the 
Lord  is  that  Spirit,  and  where  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord,  there  is  liberty  " ;  the  letter  of  the  Word  is  no 
more  a  bondage,  but  full  of  light  and  comfort. 

And  this  leads  naturally  to  one  more  point ; 
the  promise  of  Christ  in  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the 
promise  of  a  direct  divine  working  in  the  regener- 


ANOTHER  COMFORTER.  67 

ation  and  sanctification  of  the  soul.  "That 
which  is  born  of  the  spirit  is  spirit."  "The 
fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long- 
suffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness,  meek- 
ness, temperance."  Looking  on  one  side  of  this 
matter  as  Nicodemus  did,  it  were  possible  to 
think  of  this  transformation  as  something  mys- 
terious. How  can  these  things  be  ?  Why  need 
we  be  perplexed  about  any  doctrine  of  the  new 
birth?  Were  it  not  enough  to  be  honest  and  do 
about  right?  Such  questions  suppose  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  principally  so  much  more  that  is 
to  be  believed  ;  rather  he  is  so  much  divine  energy 
made  possible  in  our  behalf.  It  is  just  conceiv- 
able that  if  a  strong  friend  should  throw  a  rope 
to  a  drowning  man,  the  latter  might  answer, 
Did  I  not  have  all  I  could  think  of  or  do  before  ? 
Why  make  me  think  about  this  rope  and  the 
necessity  of  making  connection  with  it  ?  But  we 
do  not  expect  any  such  answer.  Eather  the 
coming  of  the  friend  and  the  throwing  of  the 
rope  seem  to  be  entirely  help  and  no  burden  at 
all.  Do  you  hear  the  great  contractors  and 
builders  of  our  time,  on  the  whole,  finding  fault 
because  science  or  invention  brings  to  them  some 
new  force,  or  makes  some  force  more  available  ? 
Very  likely,  it  does  involve  some  new  adjustment, 


68  ANOTHER  COMFORTER. 

some  painstaking,  but  it  brings  more  help  than 
it  does  trouble. 

Now,  at  five  points  we  have  looked  at  the 
doctrine  of  another  advocate,  and  seen  at  each  of 
these  points,  that  though,  if  one  choose  to  take 
it  so,  it  increases  the  articles  of  one's  creed,  yet 
it  increases  vastly  more  one's  help  and  courage 
and  hope.  Our  Lord's  prayer  is  answered ;  in 
the  words  of  the  text  we  read  over  again  the 
gracious  meaning  we  have  found  in  it,  "I  will 
pray  the  Father  and  he  shall  give  you  another 
advocate,"  not  another  task  master,  or  creditor, 
or  prosecutor,  but  another  advocate,  and  such  an 
advocate  is  a  comfort  indeed. 

When  our  Saviour  was  speaking  about  this 
great  gift  to  his  disciples,  the  whole  matter,  it 
would  seem,  was  more  puzzling  than  it  was 
assuring  and  restful.  They  interrupted  him  again 
and  again  with  questions.  "  What,"  asked  Jude, 
"what  has  come  to  pass  that  thou  wilt  manifest 
thyself  unto  us  and  not  unto  the  world  ?  "  "  What 
is  this  that  he  saith,"  said  one  to  another,  "What 
is  this  that  he  saith?"  "We  know  not  what  he 
saith."  So  always,  when  any  truth  which  is  new, 
of  whose  reality  we  have  little  or  no  experience, 
is  stated  to  us  in  words,  it  either  falls  dead  upon 
us   or  it  pricks   our  understanding   and   sets   us 


ANOTHER  COMFORTER.  69 

asking  why,  how  and  wherefore.  And  a  child 
may  ask  more  questions  than  its  mother  at  least 
can  answer.  But  these  days,  when  the  promise 
of  the  Father  was  a  truth  which  lay  outside  of 
them,  passed  away  with  the  disciples,  and  the  days 
came  when  what  was  a  doctrine  became  also  an 
experience.  The  another  advocate  was  as  real 
as  the  one  whom  they  had  seen  with  their  eyes 
and  their  hands  had  handled.  They  saw  the  world 
— the  very  men  who  had  taken  part  in  the  cruci- 
fixion— convicted  of  sin  ;  men,  perhaps,  who  had 
allied  Jesus  to  Beelzebub  and  said,  Thou  hast  a 
devil,  now  convinced  of  his  righteousness.  They 
found  themselves  remembering  matters  in  the 
Lord's  history  and  teaching  which  at  the  time 
made  small  impression :  things  dark  before 
became  light ;  the  moral  weakness  which  made 
them  timid  was  transformed  into  a  marvellous 
boldness ;  the  low,  earthly  views  they  had  had 
of  the  mission  of  the  Saviour  became  large  and 
spiritual.  Could  not  questions,  many  and  subtle, 
be  asked  still  about  this  Comforter  ?  Could  the 
mere  intellect  say  any  better  whence  this  wind 
Cometh  or  whither  it  goeth  ?  No.  The  theory  of 
an  earthquake  often  remains  puzzling  us,  though 
we  have  had  the  most  sensible  evidence  of  its 
power.     We  may  be  illumined  and  cheered  by 


70  ANOTHER  COMFORTER. 

electric  light,  while  many  secrets  concerDing  elec- 
tricity lie  unrevealed. 

The  Christian  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit  has 
been  verified  again  and  again  in  the  experience 
of  millions.  No  boy  or  girl  in  these  Christian 
lands  lives  without  feeling,  in  greater  or  less 
degree,  the  monitions  of  his  presence  in  the 
conscience.  Sometimes,  the  voice  seems  very  clear 
and  very  urgent.  No  one  of  us  who  reads  the 
Scriptures,  but  detects  the  invisible  power  and 
catches  the  outlines  of  the  invisible  form.  Often 
we  meet  men  and  women  who  are  evidently 
molded  by  this  agent.  He  it  is  who  makes  the 
atmosphere  of  some  localities  and  societies  so 
much  more  pure  and  quickening  than  others  are. 
And  when  ever  any  one  says  in  his  heart  of  hearts, 
I  choose  to  be  led  by  the  Spirit  that  glorifies 
Christ,  that  moment,  the  doctrine  he  has  heard 
of  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  and  concerning  which 
he  has  queried,  how  can  these  things  be  ?  has 
become  life  and  immortality. 


V. 

THIETY  YEAKS  IN  NAZARETH. 

"And  he  went  down  with  them  and  came  to  Nazareth,  and  he 
was  subject  unto  fTiem.— Luke  2 :  51. 

THE  childhood  of  Jesus  occupies  but  a  small 
portion  of  the  Gospels.  In  the  Gospel  of 
Mark,  not  a  word  is  said  about  it.  Jesus  is  of  full 
age  when  he  appears  in  Mark's  story;  and — to  use 
this  evangelist's  favorite  adverb — "straightway" 
the  Messiah  proceeds  to  the  quickly  succeeding 
tasks  of  his  public  ministry.  In  the  copy  of  the 
New  Testament  which  I  have  commonly  used,  two 
hundred  and  eighty-five  pages  are  given  to  the 
things  which  Christ  said  and  did  after  his  baptism, 
but  barely  one  page  to  the  incidents  connected 
with  his  previous  life.  Once  only  in  all  this 
period  do  we  distinctly  see  the  boy,  and  then, 
according  to  the  story  in  Luke,  he  goes  down  with 
his  parents  to  their  retired  provincial  town;  and 
nearly  everything  that  can  be  said  with  certainty 
of  his  youth  is  that  he  was  subject  to  the  parental 
order  and  discipline. 


72  THIRTY  YEARS  IN  NAZARETH. 

Of  the  parents,  we  are  told,  they  did  not  under- 
stand the  answer  which  their  son  gave  them  in 
explanation  of  his  tarrying  in  Jerusalem,  when 
they  were  seeking  for  him.  So  we  may  as  well 
confess  that  we  do  not  understand  all  the  reasons 
of  the  long  obscurity  of  his  thirty  years  at  Naza- 
reth. But  this  is  also  told  us,  that  his  mother  kept 
all  these  sayings  in  her  heart.  If  we  cannot 
understand  all  the  problem  of  the  Saviour's  child- 
hood, nor  all  the  reasons  why  so  little  is  related 
concerning  it,  we  may  imitate  Mary  and  ponder 
the  little  that  is  related.  What  are  some  of  these 
suggestions  that  are  likely  to  occur  to  us,  when 
we  consider  that  the  inconspicuous  years  in  the 
story  of  the  Redeemer  so  greatly  outnumber  those 
which  were  conspicuous?  When  we  take  a  look 
at  some  one  Sabbath,  full  of  the  Saviour's  labors, 
it  is  easy  to  learn  important  lessons;  but  what  les- 
sons are  to  be  learned  when  we  think  of  those 
Sabbaths,  so  many  of  them,  in  which  it  would 
appear  probable  that  he  uttered  no  of^cial  teach- 
ing and  worked  no  amazing  signs? 

1.  One  comprehensive  suggestion  comes  from 
the  consideration  of  this  fact,  viz.,  the  reality  and 
significance  of  our  Lord's  manhood.  It  has  been 
sometimes  iaiagined  that  his  manhood  was  a  thing 
of  form,  of  appearance,  something  assumed  for  the 


THIRTY  YEARS  IN  NAZARETH.  73 

time  to  make  an  impression,  but  not  flesh  and 
blood  humanity.  If  we  were  absolutely  confined 
to  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  and  the  Christ  were  sprung 
upon  us  in  the  fullness  of  a  miraculous  activity, 
without  any  allusion  to  antecedent  years  of  infancy 
and  growth,  it  might  be  easier  to  conceive  of  him 
in  this  phenomenal  way.  But  the  glimpse  that  is 
given  us  in  connection  with  our  text  assures  us 
that  his  thirty  years  had  passed  under  the  common 
conditions  of  the  average  Galilean  boy.  There  had 
been  little,  perhaps  nothing,  of  the  preternatural 
in  his  ways  or  modes  of  life.  When  at  last  he  did 
preach,  speak  parable  and  work  surprises  of  heal- 
ing, his  townsmen  could  readily  ask  in  their  incre- 
dulity, Is  this  not  the  carpenter's  son  ?  Is  not  his 
mother's  name  Mary  ?  And  his  brethren,  James, 
•loses,  Simon  and  Judas  ?  And  his  sisters,  are 
they  not  all  with  us  ?  Is  he  not  then  just  common 
clay  ?  We  are  very  apt,  now  that  we  have  been 
accustomed  to  think  of  him  as  divine,  to  argue. 
Why,  there  must  have  been  something  very  extra- 
ordinary in  the  bearing,  activity  and  conduct  of 
Jesus  from  the  beginning.  It  is  really  difficult  for 
us  to  keep  him  down  so  long  in  the  actual  humanity 
into  which  he  voluntarily  entered.  Do  we  not  get 
a  hint  that  in  the  holy  family  at  Nazareth  those 
protracted   years  of  simple   homely  growth   and 


74  THIRTY  YEARS  IN  NAZARETH. 

service  were  a  perplexity  and  a  disappointment  ? 
Else  how  could  it  be  that  the  simple  suggestion 
which  Mary  made  about  the  lack  of  wine  at  Cana, 
should  have  drawn  out  so  decisive  a  reminder  that 
his  hour  was  not  yet  come  ?  Had  it  not  seemed  to 
her  many  times  before  as  if  his  hour  would  never 
come  ?  And  his  brethren,  even  after  his  public 
ministry,  could  not  believe  him ;  for  if  he  were 
the  Messiah,  how  could  he  live  so  long  down  in 
the  common  conditions  ?  If  thou  doest  these 
things,  if  thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  how  is  it  possi- 
ble that  thou  dost  not  manifest  thyself  to  the  world 
as  such  ?  Now,  the  fuller  doctrine  in  the  later 
portions  of  the  New  Testament  emphasizes  the  fact 
that  it  was  necessary  for  the  Redeemer  to  become 
human  in  order  to  redeem.  And  when  we  turn 
back  to  the  record  of  the  Gospels  we  mark  this 
long  period,  when  nearly  all  that  appears  to  us  is 
that  he  was  one  of  an  ordinary  household.  The 
apocryphal  Gospels  were  not  content  with  this 
record.  They  multiplied  the  miraculous  back  into 
his  earlier  development.  It  has  taken  the  painters 
many  centuries  to  learn  to  represent  him  without 
the  halo  about  his  head.  And  do  not  even  we  keep 
saying  to  ourselves,  how  could  it  have  been  that  he 
should  have  failed  so  long  to  show  his  divinity  ? 
But    the    facts   would   rather  teach   us   that  the 


THIRTY   YEARS  IN  NAZARETH.  75 

divinity  was  to  be  revealed  when  the  hour  should 
be  come.  Meanwhile,  and  for  a  long  while,  he  was 
to  live  just  a  life  of  full  identity  with  his  fellow- 
meu.  We  must  indeed  affirm  that  this  ordinary 
life  was  morally  spotless.  Purity,  truth,  obedience, 
good  will,  were  in  him  without  flaw.  But  these 
qualities  do  not  astonish  the  average  mass  of 
people.  They  are  not  so  highly  esteemed  always, 
even  in  one's  own  family.  They  do  not  always 
suit  the  ambitions  of  the  parents.  They  may  be 
misconstrued.  They  may  be  thought  too  good  and 
inconvenient  to  have  about.  To  be  sure,  we  all  of 
us  think  that  if  we  had  a  real  angel  in  the  house, 
we  should  know  he  was  winged,  even  if  the  wings 
themselves  were  concealed.  But  it  would  be  no 
marvel  if  the  angel  should  at  times  wish  he  could 
exercise  his  wings  and  fly  away,  and  be  somewhere 
where  his  motives  and  acts  would  not  be  so  mis- 
conceived, and  his  spirit  not  so  grieved.  It  is 
probable  that  that  day  when  Jesus  read  the 
Scriptures  in  the  synagogue,  where  he  had  been 
brought  up,  was  not  the  first  time  that  he  had  felt 
the  force  of  the  proverb,  "No  prophet  is  acceptable 
in  his  own  country."  However  morally  superior 
he  was,  as  compared  to  his  brothers  or  his  towns- 
men, they  might  not  have  eyes  to  see  it.  As  far  as 
they  were  concerned,  he  was  of  no  extraordinary 


76  THIRTY  YEARS  IN  NAZARETH. 

reputation ;  his  life  was  just  our  common  human 
lot.  He  was  bone  of  our  bone  and  flesh  of  our 
flesh. 

It  follows,  therefore,  as  a  second  suggestion, 
that  the  temptations  of  an  ordinary  life  were  met 
by  our  Saviour.  We  know  that  he  met  extra- 
ordinary temptations,  those  peculiar  to  himself 
as  the  Redeemer.  We  read,  also,  of  the  special 
temptation  that  preceded  his  public  career. 
That  was  for  forty  days  in  the  wilderness  and 
under  the  pressure  of  protracted  hunger.  We 
read  of  the  trials  to  which  he  was  subjected  to 
by  reason  of  the  slowness  of  his  disciples  and  the 
malignity  of  his  enemies  in  high  places.  We 
read  of  the  agony  of  the  garden.  These  experi- 
ences were  unique.  But  we  might  think.  Why, 
he  was  girded  for  these,  as  Polycarp,  or  Latimer, 
and  other  martyrs  girded  themselves  for  the 
stake.  Many  a  man  or  woman  has  made  a 
supreme  efPort  to  meet  some  supreme  occasion  ; 
great  grace  has  been  given  to  endure  some  excep- 
tional conflict.  But  back  of  the  exceptional  and 
brief  experience  of  his  three  years'  ministry,  lay 
the  thirty  years  of  those  every-day  vexations, 
rebuffs  and  grievances  which  try  the  virtue  and 
patience  of  the  great  majority  of  us. 

It  is  common  for  us  to  neutralize  the  force  of 


THIRTY   YEARS  IN  NAZARETH.  77 

this  thought  by  say  Id  g,  either  first,  Christ  had  a 
divine  nature.  But  it  is  forgotten  that  it  is  a 
part  of  the  Biblical  doctrine  that  our  Lord  did 
not  allow  himself  to  use  his  divine  prerogatives 
for  the  relief  of  his  personal  wants,  nor  for  his 
human  virtue.  He  laid  aside  the  exercise  of  his 
divine  powers  for  his  own  individual  comfort  and 
strength.  Or  second,  it  is  said,  well  he  had  no 
inward  craving  for  the  unlawful,  no  inclination 
to  anything  wrong  ;  it  was  not  hard  for  him  to  be 
good.  No  doubt,  there  was  this  disinclination  to 
wrong  choice.  But  we  must  not  think  of  the 
matter  as  if  Christ  was  so  constituted  as  to  go 
through  all  the  narrowness,  irritation  and  fasci- 
nation of  human  experience,  and  feel  no  impression 
from  them.  He  was  moved  by  them.  To  be  sure, 
they  did  not  move  him  as  they  would,  if  he  had 
allowed  himself  to  come  under  their  control.  A 
child  may  be  fretted,  because  he  loves  good  rather 
than  evil ;  but  he  will  feel  it  differently  and  worse, 
if  his  heart  says,  I  do  not  care,  I  am  going  to  fret. 
Then  the  temptation  is  let  in  and  it  has  its  way. 
We  do  not  wish  to  think  that  our  Lord  had  that 
irritability  which  comes  in  the  cherishing  of  bad 
thoughts,  but  he  did  have  those  sensibilities  by 
which  he  could  be  severely  tried,  and  against  the 
trial  he  must  resist.     The  point  is  that  for  thirty 


78  THIRTY  YEARS  IN  NAZARETH. 

years  he  bore  those  petty  and  perpetual  aunoy- 
ances  which  are  met  at  the  different  stages  of  the 
growing  years.  No  diary  was  to  be  kept  of  them. 
No  one  would  know  of  his  conflict  or  his  victory 
in  detail.  His  tempted  lot  was,  then,  so  much 
like  most  of  ours.  For  all  of  us  have  difficulties 
that  are  only  such  as  are  common  to  men.  They 
are  too  trivial  to  be  made  public.  They  do  not 
give  us  any  martyr's  crown.  If  we  should  speak 
about  them  much,  perhaps  people  would  wonder 
how  we  have  come  to  be  making  so  much  of 
nothing.  They  have  their  roots  in  a  child's 
sensitiveness  ;  they  are  complicated  with  what  is 
styled  a  woman's  nervousness ;  or,  we  say,  they 
are  born  only  of  a  man's  pride.  But  they  chafe 
us  nevertheless.  And  the  blessed  thought  is  that, 
in  those  unrecorded  years,  Christ  was  tempted  on 
this  common  plane  and  yet  without  sin. 

The  third  suggestion  coming,  as  we  look  back 
into  the  obscure  years  at  Nazareth,  is  that  the 
Divine  Providence  puts  a  high  estimate  on  periods 
of  preparation.  There  may  be  stated  many 
reasons  why  our  Master  should  have  begun  his 
work  earlier.  It  had  been  so  long  since  Israel 
had  been  waiting  for  the  Messiah.  False  religion 
was  everywhere  among  the  nations.  Errors  had 
been,  and  were  now,  traversing  all  the  lands.     Evil 


THIRTY   YEARS  IN  NAZARETH.  79 

men  and  seducers  were  waxing  worse  and  worse. 
The  poor  needed  the  Gospel.  During  those  thirty 
years,  while  he  was  tarrying  at  Nazareth,  a 
generation  of  the  human  family  would  go  down 
to  their  graves  without  the  light  which  he  could 
give.  Why  should  one,  so  wonderfully  born  and 
endowed,  given  such  a  message  of  peace  and  good 
will,  be  detained  in  a  little  town  in  the  foot-hills 
and  be  working  in  the  routine  of  ordinary  labor 
for  so  long  a  time  ?  Why  not  put  his  mouth  to 
the  trumpet  at  once  ?  The  question  involves 
points  which  are  beyond  our  solution.  But  our 
text  directs  our  attention  to  the  fact  that  prepa- 
ration was  needed  in  him,  as  well  as  in  the  world 
into  which  he  came.  Salvation  was  not  to  come 
by  a  sudden  leap,  a  flash  across  the  sky.  The 
three  years  of  a  Saviour's  work  needed  ten  times 
three  years  of  preparation.  This  may  not  seem 
accordant  with  some  partial  notions  some  of  us 
may  have  concerning  Christ.  Why  was  he  not 
as  well  fitted  to  enter  on  his  work  at  eighteen 
as  at  thirty  ?  The  doctors  in  the  temple 
were  "amazed  at  his  understanding  and  his 
answers,"  although  he  was  only  twelve  years  old. 
Why  should  eighteen  years  more  pass  before 
the  people  in  general  should  be  "  astonished  at  his 
doctrine  "  ?    There  can  hardly  be  a  reply  to  these 


8a  THIRTY   YEARS  IN  NAZARETH. 

questions  which  does  not  include  high  appreci- 
ation of  those  years  which  custom  and  reason 
assign  as  the  season  of  preparation.  In  bringing 
many  sons  to  glory,  it  behooved  that  the  author 
of  salvation  be  made  perfect,  not  merely  through 
the  suffering  of  death,  but  through  all  the  ante- 
cedent discipline  of  his  home  in  Nazareth.  What 
strikes  us  here,  is  not  the  facilities,  the  specially 
favorable  opportunities  which  Nazareth  afforded — 
that  city  could  not  boast  of  such — but  these  two 
things,  the  stillness  of  retirement  and  the  element 
of  time.  What  is  twice  recorded  of  his  mother, 
that  she  "kept  things  in  her  heart,  pondering 
them,"  we  may  be  sure  was  characteristic  of  Jesus. 
It  takes  time,  it  needs  retirement,  to  keep  the 
great  things  of  God  in  the  heart  and  to  weigh 
them  so  as  to  feel  their  real  value,  and  be  pre- 
pared to  express  them  to  others.  And  if  Christ 
needed  such  preparatory  discipline,  surely  it  need 
not  be  argued  that  they  who  are  far  less  endowed 
than  he,  need  it. 

That  which  was  necessary  in  our  Lord  is  con-, 
stantly  illustrated  in  his  disciples  and  his  king- 
dom. Preparatory  experience  and  training  consti- 
tute so  large  a  portion  of  life.  Sometimes  it 
seems  as  if  it  were  all.  For  how  often  sickness, 
early  death   or  other  disability,  arrests  or  keeps 


THIRTY  YEARS  IN  NAZARETH.  81 

men  and  women  on  the  threshold.  What  a  dispro- 
portion between  the  vestibule  and  the  building! 
If  we  should  look  only  at  our  Lord's  thirty-three 
years,  as  they  seemed,  say,  just  after  his  death, 
we  should  feel  as  those  did  who  walked  to 
Emmaus,  "looking  sad."  For  the  thought  would 
oppress  us  that  he  was  only  just  ready  to  be  use- 
ful and  now  he  is  cut  off!  But  wait  and  let  the 
eighteen  centuries  go  by,  and  we  shall  see  that  the 
short  life  was  so  wonderfully  preparatory  for  the 
dispensation  of  the  divine  Comforter.  So  secular 
minds,  who  see  missionaries  taking  long  courses 
of  study  and  spending  much  time  in  acquiring  a 
foreign  tongue,  and  then  toiling  away  with  little 
obvious  result,  are  inclined  to  exclaim  against 
waste,  and  even  are  so  small-sighted  as  to  calcu- 
late the  cost  of  one  convert.  They  do  not  con- 
sider that  this  is  the  foundation  labor;  large  indeed 
if  only  one  convert  were  to  constitute  the  struct- 
ure to  be  erected  on  it,  but  not  too  large,  if  by  and 
by  a  nation  is  to  throng  the  walls  and  sing  praises 
in  its  aisles.  Along  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  some  sixty 
years  ago,  two  humble  men  had  prayed  and  taught 
for  six  years  and  no  one  embraced  the  faith  they 
taught;  but  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  year,  two  native 
disciples  came  in  their  feebleness.  An  ordinary 
traveller,   comiug  along  that  season  might  easily 


82  THIRTY  YEARS  IN  NAZARETH. 

liave  leaped,  like  Remus,  over  the  wall  of  this  new 
Home.  But  then  commenced  a  movement,  so  that 
now  hundreds  of  Christians  stand  where  once  two 
stood  and  scores  of  native  preachers  spread  the 
truth  far  and  wide.  It  has  been  said  that  the 
ledge  on  which  Minot's  Ledge  light-house  in  Boston 
harbor  is  bailt,  was  uncovered  but  twenty  minutes 
a  day  at  low  tide,  and  so  two  full  years  were  spent 
by  the  workmen,  before  the  sea-worn  surface  was 
made  ready  to  receive  the  first  layer  of  stones  in 
the  foundation.  Two  more  years  of  wearisome 
endeavor  were  spent  before  the  first  few  courses 
were  finished.  But  after  that  the  structure  could 
go  rapidly  and  surely  forward.  Do  not  despise  the 
days  of  preparation,  even  if  they  do  seem  like  the 
day  of  small  things.  Something  is  done  then 
which  cannot  be  done  after.  The  labor  that  is  out 
of  sight  may  be  more  important  than  that  which 
comes  to  view.  The  young  men  who  are  in  a 
hurry  to  leave  school,  or  college,  or  seminary,  or 
who  ask  what  is  the  use  of  this  or  that  long-tried 
method  of  discipline,  are  not  likely  to  do  the  most 
valuable  work  of  the  world.  Visible  results  are 
darling  objects  of  desire,  but  they  usually  may  be 
traced  back  at  last  to  somebody  who  was  willing 
to  plough  and  sow  for  others  to  reap. 

It  is  probable  that  fault  has  been  found  with  the 


THIRTY   YEARS  IN  NAZARETH.  83 

Gospels  because  they  are  so  reticent  about  the 
earlier  life  of  our  Lord.  But  if  we  have  taken  a 
correct  impression,  the  silence  is  itself  most 
instructive  and  comforting.  For  the  great  mass 
of  men  are  not  prominent.  Their  life  is  obscure. 
They  might  become  depressed  in  consequence. 
Can  it  be  that,  when  the  Lord  himself  was  on  the 
earth,  his  lot  lay,  and  that  most  of  the  time,  in  just 
such  conditions?  And  did  he  also  feel  the  depres- 
sion incident  to  such  lowly  conditions?  Then  he 
is  not  the  Saviour  only  of  the  men  and  women  who 
have  felt  their  lives  sublime,  but  of  us  who  have  not 
felt  our  lives  sublime  at  all.  He  must  have  some 
quick  feeling  with  ministers  whose  congregations 
are  not  large  and  whose  work  makes  small  noise 
in  the  world ;  with  parents  who  have  to  wait  long 
for  wisdom  and  grace  to  blossom  in  their  children  ; 
with  those  children  who  patiently  continue  their 
studies  and  discipline,  though  they  do  hear  the 
Syren  call  outside;  with  chronic  invalids  who  won- 
der what  the  tedious  months  of  seclusion  can 
mean;  with  those  who  plant  institutions  that  do 
not  at  once  become  Oxfords  or  Yales.  The  writer  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  says:  "Verily,  not  of 
angels  doth  he  take  hold,  but  he  taketh  hold  on 
the  seed  of  Abraham."  We  may  add,  verily,  he 
took    not    hold    of   the   social   conditions  repre- 


84  THIRTY  YEARS  IN  NAZARETH. 

sented  by  the  rich,  learned,  the  people  of  genius 
and  the  successful ;  but  he  took  the  conditions  of 
the  commonplace.  He  tasted  death  for  every 
man,  but  he  tasted  the  slow,  baffled,  lingering  and 
monotonous  life,  which  must  in  some  degree  and 
at  some  time  puzzle  us  all. 

Let  us,  then,  close  with  the  suggestion  that  God 
esteems  it  a  great  thing  to  be  just  obedient  and 
submitted  within  the  lot  assigned  us  in  family, 
school,  neighborhood.  For  Christ  went  down  from 
the  great  and  holy  city,  from  the  rooms  of  the 
reverend  doctors  in  the  gorgeous  temple,  and  came 
to  Nazareth,  and  he  was  subject  for  thirty  years  to 
his  parents.  He  learned  that  plain  grace  of 
obedience  in  the  things  he  had  to  meet  there.  The 
sphere  was  not  wide,  but  the  words  which  he  once 
used  of  Mary,  of  Bethany,  might  be  applied  to 
him,  He  hath  done  what  he  could.  We  are  often 
restless.  We  would  prefer  some  other  sphere. 
The  treadmill  fills  not  our  capacity.  Even  home 
may  seem  narrow.  It  cannot  be  that  Jesus  found 
all  his  nature  satisfied  in  his  adopted  town.  He 
outgrew  it.  When  his  hour  came,  he  left  it.  So, 
when  the  hour  comes,  let  us  gladly  enter  larger 
spaces  that  may  open  to  us.  But  until  then  God 
give  us  the  grace  that  can  be  faithful  in  the  few 
things.     It  may  happen,  indeed,  certainly  it  does 


THIRTY  YEARS  IN  NAZARETH.  85 

happen,  that  they  who  have  held  large  trusts,  may, 
by  some  reverse  or  disability,  come  to  find  their 
opportunity  contract.  The  rich  man  becomes 
poor  ;  the  President  returns  to  the  place  of  one  of 
sixty  millions  of  people.  The  old  man's  honors 
he  sees  slip  from  him  into  younger  men's  hands. 
Peter  who  girded  himself,  and  walked  whither  he 
would,  comes  to  be  girded  by  another  and  carried 
whether  he  would  not.  How  changeful  life  is ! 
How  great  a  grace  that,  learned  from  Christ,  which 
enables  us  to  make  the  best  of,  and  do  the  best  in, 
whatever  condition  Providence  may  assign  us. 


VI. 
NOT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO  SAVE. 

''For  God  sent  not  the  Son  into  the  world  to  judge  the  world; 
but  that  the  world  should  be  saved  through  Tiim."— John  3 :  17. 

ON  the  day  of  Victor  Hugo's  funeral  in  Paris, 
workmen  were  noticed  removing  the  cross 
from  the  public  building  which  was  to  be  promi- 
nent in  the  eye  of  the  people  on  that  day.  That 
removal  of  the  cross  was  a  sign  that  somehow 
large  numbers  of  the  Parisian  populace  look  upon 
Christ,  at  least  as  represented  by  the  Church 
there,  as  their  enemy  rather  than  as  their  friend. 
The  French  radicals  are  not  the  only  ones  who 
have  come  to  misconceive  of  the  main  mission  of 
Christ.  There  is  an  old  story,  which  used  to  be 
told  in  the  juvenile  papers,  with  a  telling  picture 
to  match  it.  The  picture  shows  a  boy  gasping 
in  deep  water.  He  is  evidently  in  danger  of 
drowning.  On  the  bank  near  by,  a  tall,  straight, 
dignified  old  gentleman  is  standing,  who  swings 
his  cane  energetically  to  and  fro.  He  is  taking 
the  boy  to  task  for  his  carelessness.    Meanwhile, 


88  NOT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO  SAVE. 

however,  the  strength  of  the  child  is  failing  fast, 
and  he  cries  out,  "  O,  sir,  save  me  first  and  lecture 
me  afterwards  ! "  Would  it  not  be  a  gross  mistake 
if  men  should  come  to  think  of  Christ  thus  ? 
If  they  should  make  judgment  instead  of  salvation 
the  chief  errand  for  which  God  sent  his  Son 
into  our  world  ? 

It  is  worth  our  while  to  note,  then,  the  pains 
which  our  Master  took  to  emphasize  the  principal 
business  on  which  he  came.  Thus,  even  when  he 
had  occasion  to  speak  with  severity  to  his  cavilling 
countrymen,  he  said,  "Think  not  that  I  will 
accuse  you  to  the  Father."  When  the  Pharisees 
reproached  him,  he  told  them,  "I  judge  no  man.'' 
When  some  Samaritan  villagers  did  not  show  a 
decent  hospitality,  and  James  and  John  would 
have  him  command  fire  to  come  down  and  con- 
sume them,  he  rebuked  the  two  disciples.  The 
air  of  religious  Palestine  was  full  of  religious 
teaching  which  despised  publicans  and  sinners, 
but  it  was  his  joy  to  relate  the  parables  of  the 
lost  coin,  the  lost  sheep,  and  the  prodigal  son. 
On  the  very  last  week  of  his  life,  when,  notwith- 
standing all  his  njiracles,  his  countrymen  did  not 
believe  him,  he  does  not  hesitate  to  hold  forth 
the  same  truth  that  is  stated  in  our  text,  "And  if 
any  man  hear  my  sayings  and  keep  them  not,  I 


NOT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO  SAVE.  89 

judge  him  not ;  for  I  came  not  to  judge  the  world, 
but  to  save  the  world." 

This  prominence  of  the  saving  errand  stands 
out  in  the  name,  which  was  to  be  given  him  at 
his  birth,  "  And  thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus  ; 
for  it  is  he  that  shall  save  his  people  from  their 
sins."  This  was  the  good  tidings  which  the 
augel  brought  to  the  shepherds,  "For  there  is 
born  to  you  this  day  in  the  City  of  David,  a 
Saviour." 

His  miracles  manifest  this  same  great  purpose. 
Of  the  thirty-three  mighty  works,  distinctly  nar- 
rated, none  of  them  bring  judgment  upon  men. 
The  only  approach  to  a  miracle  of  harm  appears 
when  the  swine  were  left  to  run  down  a  steep 
place  into  the  sea,  and  when  the  barren  fig-tree 
was  made  to  wither  away.  Even  these  two  strokes 
of  power  were  rather  for  instruction  than  for 
judgment.  But  the  great  body  of  wonderful 
works  were  for  the  relief  of  human  suffering  and 
need.  They  were  deliverances,  not  inflictions. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  in  connection  with 
these  very  acts  of  mercy,  Jesus  met  with  stinging 
provocation.  He  was  accused  of  doing  these 
acts  by  league  with  the  devil.  He  was  blamed 
for  doing  them.  Easily  he  might  have  meted 
to   his   critics  condign   punishment,  struck  them 


90  NOT  TO  JUDGE,   BUT  TO  SAVE. 

with  blindness  or  leprosy,  as  did  Elisha ;  visited 
them  with  death,  as  Peter  did  Ananias  and 
Sapphira.  But  endowed  with  amazing  power, 
he  did  not  use  it  thus.  He  went  about  to  heal, 
not  to  harm. 

His  death  signally  disclosed  his  character  of  a 
Saviour.  It  might  have  been  expected  that  in  the 
final  scene  there  would  be  some  token  that  the  King 
of  the  Jews  was  their  judge.  There  was  darkness. 
The  earth  did  quake.  The  rocks  were  rent.  The 
temple's  vail  was  torn  in  twain.  Earth,  as  was 
fit,  gave  sign  that  she  felt  the  wound  her  Lord  was 
receiving.  But  we  do  not  read  that  a  single 
creature  in  the  vast  and  stormy  throng  was  hurt. 
Creatures  were  there,  who,  only  a  few  hours 
before,  had  spit  upon  him.  But  they  were  safe. 
The  soldiers  cast  lots  for  his  garments  beneath 
the  cross  on  which  he  hung,  but  no  bolt  fell 
from  the  darkening  sky.  People  continually  were 
passing  by,  wagging  their  heads  in  ridicule  and 
insult,  but  no  vengeance  befel  them.  The  chief 
priests,  scribes  and  elders  stood  now  in  sight  of 
their  victim,  mocking,  chuckling  over  their  victory, 
deriding  his  high  claims.  Is  there  no  indignation 
gathering  hot  in  that  suffering  Son  of  God, 
which  shall  presently  devour  such  adversaries  ? 
Elijah's  wrath  on  Carmel  slew  the  priests  of  Baal 


NOT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO  SAVE.  91 

with  instant  fury.  But  their  provocation  was  far 
less  than  the  provocation  given  by  those  who 
cried,  Crucify  him,  and  who  taunted  the  blameless 
Messiah.  But  there  was  no  wrath  in  the  Saviour 
on  that  day.  Words  of  apology  were  offered  in 
behalf  of  the  immediate  actors  in  the  scene. 
"  They  know  not  what  they  do."  Words  of  for- 
giving intercession  arose  in  the  midst  of  that 
angry  air.  "Father,  forgive  them."  A  thief,  who 
was  meeting  the  just  judgment  for  his  deeds, 
received  the  promise  of  Paradise  that  same  hour. 
The  wonderful  being  who  was  stretched  on  that 
rude  wood,  as  he  came,  lived,  wrought  his 
miracles,  so  now  he  dies,  not  to  judge,  but  to 
save  the  world. 

If  this  office  of  Saviour  thus  stood  out  subordi- 
nating his  mission  as  judge,  then  we  who  represent 
Christ  need  to  take  pains  to  represent  him  to  the 
world  in  that  light.    We  need  to  take  special  pains. 

One  reason  for  this  is  that  it  was  a  subordinate 
end  and,  incidentally,  a  necessary  result  of  Christ's 
visit  to  earth  that  the  world  would  be  judged.  He 
came  as  the  light  comes.  It  is  not  the  chief  func- 
tion of  the  sunshine  to  reveal  the  objects  which 
are  unsightly  and  repulsive,  yet  the  sun  cannot 
shine  where  such  objects  are,  without  exposing 
them  to  view.     So  our  Saviour  says  in  one  place, 


92  NOT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO,  SAVE. 

"Now  is  the  judgment  of  the  world."  That  and 
similar  passages  might  seem  to  contradict  the 
assertion  in  our  text.  But  there  is  no  real  contra- 
diction. It  is  well  known  that  wherever  Christ  is 
preached,  there  the  fact  of  human  sinfulness  and 
peril  becomes  clearer  and  often  more  oppressive. 
So,  the  very  word,  preach,  has  come  to  take  on  a 
secondary  instead  of  its  primary  meaning.  Its 
real  evangelistic  meaning  is  to  tell  the  good  news. 
But  if  in  the  course  of  conversation  one  of  us 
should  reprove  a  fault,  or  suggest  a  duty,  or  warn 
against  some  moral  danger,  he  would  very  likely 
be  answered,  Oh,  don't  preach.  So  the  sermon,  in 
many  minds,  comes  to  be  chiefly  the  handling  of 
men's  sins  and  the  exposure  of  the  sinner's  danger. 
But  that  is  not  its  distinctive  character.  Sin  is 
hardly  more  the  chief  burden  of  a  preacher  than 
sickness  is  the  great  mission  of  the  physician.  It 
may  be  necessary  for  a  doctor  to  show  his  patient 
that  he  is  really  a  sick  man  ;  it  may  be  important 
that  he  should  tell  him  what  and  how  serious  a 
matter  his  disease  is.  For  the  patient  may  be 
deceived.  But,  comparatively,  it  is  an  inferior 
function  of  a  physician  to  magnify  disease.  His 
principal  errand  is  to  bring  some  remedy,  to  effect 
a  cure.  What  is  called  the  diagnosis,  the  thorough 
and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  case,  is,  indeed,  of 


NOT   TO  JUDGE,   BUT  TO  SAVE.  93 

\ 

very  vital  importance.  We  all  know  what  vain 
attempts  are  often  made  to  cure,  simply  because 
the  sick  man  is  treated  for  the  wrong  disease.  It 
is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  some  persons 
should  magnify  this  power  of  accurate  vision  and 
should  say,  Why,  that  man  told  me  just  how  I  felt, 
and  looked  right  through  me.  It  is  not  the  most 
pleasant  thing  in  the  world  for  people  to  know 
morally  just  how  they  are.  It  may  be  said  to  be 
the  most  painful  thing  in  the  world.  The  attempts 
on  the  part  of  the  health  authorities  in  some  of  the 
cholera-stricken  cities  of  Spain,  to  put  those  cities 
in  a  good  sanitary  condition,  were  resisted  ;  led 
almost  to  riot.  The  health-officer  will  see  too 
much  filth,  and  the  people  will  see  it,  too.  Is  not, 
then,  the  cleansing  of  a  foul  city  a  great  good  ? 
Should  not  the  sight  of  men  who  come  to  bring 
purity,  to  sweeten  the  air  and  ensure  immunity 
from  plague,  be  welcome  ?  It  was  not.  Do  you 
say,  how  absurd  and  suicidal  was  this  feeling  of 
the  Spaniards  ?  But  it  is  the  feeling  that  reigns 
in  human  hearts  about  the  Saviour  from  sin.  He 
suggests  to  them,  not  so  much  salvation,  as  the 
bad  moral  condition.  A  young  lady  who  had  a 
morbid  feeling  concerning  death,  declared  she 
never  liked  to  see  a  minister,  because  he  suggested 
to  her  mind  a  funeral.     Now,  a  true  Gospel  minis- 


94  NOT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO  SAVE. 

ter  should  suggest  to  a  young  lady  immortality 
rather  than  death.  But  one  opposite  implies 
another.  And  the  soul  that  is  sensitive  about  its 
wrong-doing,  may  be  more  sensitive  of  it  when  the 
Saviour  appears,  than  before.  A  young  man  was 
once  lying  in  a  dejected  and  miserable  state  in 
London.  He  had  been  living  a  bad  life.  As  he 
lay  there,  these  words  came  suddenly  to  memory  : 
'*  Call  upon  me,  and  I  will  deliver  thee."  These 
words  are  sweet  words  of  promise,  but  the  moment 
he  recalled  them,  they  were  not  comforting,  but 
condemning.  His  past  life  rose  up  before  him.  It 
is  a  bad  perversion  that  thus  changes  the  Saviour 
into  the  judge,  but,  I  think,  we  see  how  the  perver- 
sion is  liable  to  occur,  and  so,  why  we  need  to  take 
pains  to  overcome  it. 

Again,  it  may  be  that  in  our  worthy  desire  to 
set  forth  the  worth  and  majesty  of  Christ  we  shall 
lose  the  sense  of  what  his  chief  errand  is.  It  is 
possible  to  dwell  so  much  on  the  Lord's  divinity, 
or  on  his  transcendent  moral  perfectness,  that  the 
imperfect  heart  will  feel  as  if  it  had  no  part  with 
him.  It  may  happen  to  us  as  to  Peter  after  the 
marvellous  draught  of  fishes.  The  master  was  so 
lifted  up  in  his  divine  power  that  the  disciple 
was  constrained  to  cry  out.  Depart  from  me,  for  I 
am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord.     A  notable  perversion 


NOT  TO  JUDGE,   BUT  TO  SAVE.  95 

arises  thus  in  the  Koman  Church.  Why  do  you 
not  go  right  to  Christ,  we  may  ask  the  suppliant 
at  those  altars.  Ah,  he  is  too  holy,  too  lofty,  too 
separate  from  sinners.  So,  the  soul  feels  its  way 
to  the  Virgin.  But,  by  and  by,  hearing  the  per- 
petual strain  of  adoration  to  the  immaculate 
Mary,  the  devotee  may  feel  that  even  the  Virgin 
is  too  exalted  for  common  access.  So  in  some 
quarters  they  call  upon  Joseph,  or  you  may  hear 
one  pleading  with  Anna.  But  who  is  Anna? 
Was  she  not  the  reputed  mother  of  Mary  ?  Or, 
remaining  Protestant,  we  may  dwell  upon  the 
spotlessness  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  think  of  him 
more  as  the  holy  one  than  as  the  Saviour. 

Now,  it  matters  not  how  high  and  glorious  we 
make  Christ  to  be,  provided  we  conceive  of  his 
high  attributes  as  all  qualifying  him  to  do,  and  as 
all  devoted  to  the  doing  of,  his  saving  work.  If  a 
child  were  wont  from  earliest  years  to  conceive  of 
his  father  as  a  wise,  righteous,  and  superior  per- 
son, occupied  with  high  thoughts  and  having  to 
do  with  vast  affairs,  it  would  be  no  wonder  if  the 
filial  feeling  should  become  overawed.  If 
he  wants  anything,  he  has  to  get  his  mother,  or 
elder  brother,  or  sister  to  go  in,  as  Esther  did  to 
Ahasuerus,  and  ask  the  great  King.  He  does  not 
think  of  speaking  about  it  himself.     But  let  the 


96  ^"OT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO  SAVE. 

little  fellow  know  from  the  first  that  the  best 
thing  in  his  father  is  his  fatherliness  ;  then  you 
may  make  his  father  king  or  emperor  and  ascribe 
to  him  all  grand  qualities,  and  the  filial  feeling 
remains.  The  more  of  these  regal  glories,  the 
greater  and  more  wonderful  a  father  he  has  ;  that 
is  all.  So,  provided  we  keep  the  idea  of  Saviour 
foremost,  we  cannot  think  too  highly  of  Christ. 
He  may  be  to  us  a  great  High  Priest,  passed 
through  the^  heavens ;  on  his  head  be  many 
crowns  ;  but  we  shall  behold  his  name.  Saviour, 
written  on  all  his  robes  ;  we  shall  see  him,  as  John 
saw  him  in  the  Revelation,  a  lamb  in  the  midst  of 
the  throne.  The  more  glorious  he  is,  ^  the  more 
glorious  our  Saviour  is  ;  that  is  all. 

The  testimony  of  the  negro,  who,  when  he  com- 
pared his  new  minister  with  Dr.  Bellamy,  said  of 
the  latter,  "He  make  God  so  great,  so  great,"  has 
often  been  quoted.  That  indeed  is  a  very 
important  impression  to  make.  It  is  important  to 
make  it  just  now.  For  there  is  a  very  strong  ten- 
dency and,  with  some,  a  determined  movement, 
to  displace  the  conception  of  God  as  the  lofty 
and  holy  sovereign.  No  one  who  reads  rightly 
the  Bible,  or  contemplates  the  vastness  and 
solemnity  of  the  universe,  can  sympathize  at  all 
with   such  tendency  or  movement.     All  reverent 


NOT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO  SAVE.  97 

thought  is  hushed  and  humbled  in  the  presence  of 
the  Holy  Father.  Nevertheless,  we  fail  to  appre- 
hend the  Gospel  truly,  if  we  do  not  emphasize  the 
fact  that  the  greatest  truth  concerning  God  is  that 
he  has  become  a  Saviour.  It  was  said  once  by  a 
dying  daughter  to  her  father,  "I  remember  so  far 
back  how  good,  kind  and  tender  you  have  been  to 
me  ;  but  most  of  all,  yes,  most  of  all,  I  thank  you 
that  you  have  held  up  Jesus  before  me  so  early, 
*so  constantly,  so  long.  For  he  is  all  I  have  now 
and  all  I  want  here."  The  greatness  and  holiness 
of  him  with  whom  we  have  to  do  is  a  necessary 
truth.  The  awakened  thought  cannot  escape  it. 
But  "let  it  not  obscure  the  central  truth  of  Chris- 
tian Revelation,  that  the  Great  God  is  a  Saviour. 

"  His  sacred  name  a  common  word 

On  earth  he  loves  to  bear  ; 
There  is  no  majesty  in  him 

Which  love  may  not  come  near  ; 
Let  us  be  simple  with  him,  then, 

Not  backward,  stiff  or  cold. 
As  though  our  Bethlehem  could  be 

What  Sinai  was  of  old." 

In  this  view  of  our  Lord's  principal  errand,  we 
may  see  in  intense  light  the  force  of  the  frequent 
cautions  given  by  Christ  against  censoriousness, 
"  Judge  not,  that  ye  be  not  judged."     Our  Master 


98  NOT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO  SAVE. 

would  have  us  like  himself,  Saviours  rather  than 
critics.  It  is  really  a  very  ordinary  gift  to  see 
motes  in  other  people's  eyes,  to  see  and  condemn 
the  faults  of  others.  It  is  cheap ;  anybody  can 
do  it.  It  is  the  gift  of  a  common  scold.  Disciples 
can  easily  remark  the  failings  of  each  other. 
The  man  outside  the  church  can  censure  the 
church.  The  children  in  any  family  need  not  be 
very  bright  to  be  able  to  note  the  inconsistency 
of  father  and  mother.  It  does  not  require  a 
parent  to  be  remarkable  to  find  fault  with  his 
children.  But  it  requires  a  wise  parent  to  help 
his  child  to  overcome  his  fault.  A  thousand 
editors  can  report  the  crimes  that  disfigure  society. 
But  those  editors  are  few  that  have  sweetness 
and  light  enough  to  promote  public  reformation. 
To  judge  is  so  much  easier  than  it  is  to  save. 
Condemnation  and  rebuke  are  part  of  the  Chris- 
tian's duty.  He  cannot  save  without  bearing  his 
testimony  against  evil.  But  what  a  rare  grace  it 
is  which  enables  one  to  make  it  evident  that  the 
great  motive  he  had  in  his  criticism  was  to  help. 
I  do  not  know  of  any  habit  which  is  so  unbecom- 
ing as  well  as  so  pitiable  in  a  Christian  as  the 
habit  of  censorious  remark.  Yet  unless  we  are 
on  our  guard,  we  shall  slip  into  the  habit  and  only 
our  friends,  who  sadly  overhear  us,  will  be  aware 


NOT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO  SAVE.  99 

how  much  ill-natured  judgment  has  entered  into 
our  spirit  and  conversation. 

This  subject  offers  suggestion,  also,  to  those  who 
suffer  from  chronic  self-condemnation.  Some  who 
judge  their  fellow-men  severely,  do  not  spare  them- 
selves. Others  who  are  charitable  toward  their  fel- 
lows are  severe  against  their  own  case.  Now,  it  is 
plain  that  no  faithful  conscience  can  keep  accusing 
the  sinner's  own  self.  And  a  very  close  scrutiny 
of  one's  self  by  the  Christian  standard,  must 
bring  discomfort.  It  ought  to  bring  discomfort. 
But  we  ought  also  to  be  able  to  see  clearly  that, 
under  the  Gospel,  self-accusation  is  not  the  main 
thing  we  have  to  do.  If  it  be  an  element  in 
Christian  character,  it  is  not  the  most  Christian 
element.  Yet  there  are  cases  in  which  disciples 
use  the  most  comforting  things  that  the  Lord  has 
said,  chiefly  to  magnify  their  own  unworthiness. 
It  is  as  if  the  prodigal,  on  returning  to  his  father's 
house,  should  turn  all  that  his  father  is  doing  for 
him  into  fuel  to  feed  the  fires  of  remorse.  The 
welcome  kiss  only  reminds  him  of  his  alienation. 
The  best  robe,  how  can  he,  the  ungreatful  child, 
wear  it  ?  The  ring  on  his  finger,  how  it  seems  to 
taunt  him  with  the  jewelry  he  has  wasted.  And 
what  satisfaction  can  even  the  hungry,  man  have 
in  a  fatted  calf — for  has  he  not  wasted  his  life  in 


100  NOT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO  SAVE. 

riotous  living  ?  As  censoriousness  may  become 
morbid  and  chronic,  so  self-criticism  may  become 
equally  so.  Both  miss  the  marvellous  and  blessed 
lesson  of  our  text — God  sent  not  Jiis  Son  into 
the  world  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the 
world  should  be  saved  through  him.  We  are 
to  receive  him,  not  most  in  his  subordinate,  but 
in  his  principal  errand.  If  judgment  were  what 
he  specially  came  for,  then  the  most  Christian 
thing  would  be  to  stretch  ourselves  daily  on  the 
rack  and  say  over  many  times  a  day  that  we  are 
miserable  offenders.  But  if  salvation  were  the 
end  in  which  he  most  delighted,  then  the  highest 
thing  we  have  to  do  is  to  accept,  without  any 
reserve  and  with  the  fullest  gratitude,  the  unspeak- 
able gift. 

This  theme  points  out,  too,  what  is  the  dis- 
tinctive and  enduring  element  in  the  Christian 
religion.  It  is  extremely  difficult  for  one  who 
is  of  sharp  moral  insight  to  keep  back  the  impulse 
to  judge  and  condemn.  Was  it  not  the  remark- 
able and  blessed  thing  for  one  who  saw  with 
the  glance,  as  of  lightning,  the  sinfulness  of  the 
human  heart  and  who  at  times  had  occasion  to 
feel  all  its  unspeakable  meanness — to  lock  up, 
as  it  were,,  his  judicial  faculty  in  his  bosom  and 
live   here   with   the   principal   purpose   to   save  ? 


NOT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO  SAVE.  101 

To  quench  within  him  even  the  righteous  rebuke 
and  utter  instead  the  words,  mainly,  of  cheer 
and  sympathy  and  hope  ? 

It  has  been  sometimes  objected  to  the  special 
claims  made  for  our  Christian  faith,  that  Christ 
added  little  or  nothing  to  what  men  knew  before 
of  duty.  It  is  possible,  men  say,  to  cull  from  the 
writings  and  proverbs  of  other  nations  the  sub- 
stance of  the  Master's  moral  teaching.  Such 
statements  are,  of  course,  made  with  insufficient 
discrimination.  But  even  were  they  truer  and 
more  discriminating  than  they  are,  they  have  not 
touched  the  peculiar  and  commanding  errand  of 
Jesus.  Others  may  have  complained  more  bit- 
terly than  he  of  what  men  are.  Others  may  have 
told  what  men  ought  to  be.  But  the  Master 
of  the  Christian  Church  came  not  primarily  as  a 
censor,  or  critic,  or  teacher  of  human  duty.  He  was 
that,  of  course, — but  he  was  more,  he  was  a  Saviour. 
When  the  eccentric  John  Randolph  visited  England 
in  1822,  he  visited  the  prison,  where  Elizabeth 
Fry  had  begun  her  wonderful  work  of  reform. 
In  a  letter  to  a  friend,  he  expressed  himself 
thus  :  "  Two  days  ago  I  saw  the  greatest  curi- 
osity in  London,  aye,  in  England,  too,  sir,  com- 
pared with  which  Westminster  Abbey,  the  Tower, 
Somerset  House,  British  Museum,  nay,  Parliament 


102  NOT  TO  JUDGE,  BUT  TO  SAVE. 

itself,  sink  into  insignificance.  I  have  seen,  sir, 
Elizabeth  Fry  in  Newgate,  and  I  have  witnessed 
the  miraculous  effects  of  true  Christianity  upon 
the  most  depraved  of  human  beings."  John 
Randolph  was  impulsive  and  extravagant.  But  he 
was  not  extravagant  in  singling  out  this  power  of 
Christ  over  the  sinful  heart  as  the  greatest  curi- 
osity of  all.  For  there  is  one  thing  which  our 
Christian  faith  has  been  doing  and  is  doing  in  a 
way  and  in  a  fullness  that  nothing  else  can  do,  it 
saves.  ,  The  world  has  had  great  critics,  scholars, 
philosophers,  moralists,  scientists,  orators,  poets, 
artists — and  they  have  contributed  to  human  joy 
and  welfare,  but  it  has  had  in  it  only  one  per- 
son to  whom  has  been  reserved  by  wide  consent 
the  name  of  the  Saviour.  Other  names  he  also 
bears,  but  none  of  them  come  home  so  closely  to 
us  all  as  this  one.  We  need  teaching  and  warning 
and  reproof  and  criticism,  but  what  are  all  these 
if  we  are  not  saved  ?  We  are  to  quit  this  life,  and 
then  our  life  broadens  and  deepens  into  the  ever- 
lasting years.  In  our  conscious  weakness  and  sin, 
the  most  precious  thought  that  ever  enters  the 
mind  is  that  he  who  will  judge  us  there  came  first 
to  be  our  Saviour. 


VII. 
GIKDED  AND  WATCHING. 

"  Let  your  loins  be  girded  about  and  your  Ifumps  burning  :  and 
be  ye  yourselves  like  unto  men  looking  for  their  lord,  when  he 
shall  return  from  the  marriage  feast;  that  when  he  cometh  and 
knocketh,  they  may  straightway  open  unto  him.  Blessed  are  those 
servants  tchom  the  lord  when  he  cometh  shall  find  watching.'''' — Luke 
12:35,36. 

nPHE  picture  presented  to  us  here  is  a  night 
-*^  scene.  The  night  is  far  spent.  It  is  past  the 
usual  time  of  burning  lamps.  At  so  late  an  hour 
men  are  not  wont  to  have  their  loins  girded.  But 
in  the  house  pictured  to  us,  the  lamps  are  still 
burning  and  the  servants  are  girded  for  service. 
There  is  reason  for  this  special  watchfulness,  for 
the  master  of  the  house  is  absent  and  is  expected 
any  moment  to  return.  Were  it  not  for  this  fact, 
the  servants  would  be  asleep  and  the  house  would 
be  undistinguished  in  the  common  darkness  of  the 
night.  Various  similar  illustrations  in  the  New 
Testament  urge  upon  the  Christian  disciple  watch- 
fulness, a  peculiarly  tense,  earnest,  serious  type  of 
character.     This  is  urged  so  often  and  so  strongly 


104  GIRDED  AND   WATCHING. 

as  to  suggest  that  there  must  be  some  grave  facts 
requiring  this  style  of  living.  The  absence  and 
expected  return  of  the  master  demanded  of  the 
servants  in  the  picture  an  unusual  wakefulness  ; 
what  are  the  facts  connected  with  the  Christian's 
probation,  which  give  to  his  piety,  while  he  is  in 
this  world,  a  special  tinge  of  seriousness? 

1.  One  fact  which,  it  should  seem,  is  fitted  to 
give  this  quality  to  human  piety,  is  our  native 
sinwardness.  All  the  members  of  the  human 
family  wake  to  consciousness  under  a  stronger 
tendency  to  sin  than  to  holiness. 

If  as  we  passed  through  our  infant  years,  it 
were  true  that 

"  Heaven's  rich  instincts  in  us  grew 
As  effortless  as  woodland  nooks 

Send  violets  up  and  paint  them  blue," 

if  it  were 

"As  easy  now  for  the  heart  to  be  true 
As  for  grass  to  be  green  or  skies  to  be  blue," 

there  would  be  far  less  occasion  for  the  exhortation 
to  watchfulness.  The  obedience  of  such  a  child 
would  be  as  natural  as  his  sports.  It  would  sug- 
gest, not  the  constraint,  but  only  the  beauty  of 
holiness.  But  the  matter  is  not  so  with  us  now. 
We   awake   in   self-knowledge   and   find   that   we 


GIRDED  AND    WATCHING.  105 

rather  not  do  what  is  just  right ;  often,  indeed,  we 
waiDt  to  do  that  which  we  know  is  wrong.  We 
must  then  run  up  a  steep  and  narrow  path,  if  we 
would  be  thoroughly  virtuous.  The  will  must 
labor  to  conform  to  conscience.  Have  we  not, 
parents  and  teachers,  looked  on  with  a  strange 
pity,  as  we  saw  how  hard  it  has  been  for  our  chil- 
dren to  be  good  ?  The  very  phrase,  to  be  good, 
seems  sometimes  to  exasperate  the  little  child. 

Now,  the  shadow  of  this  native  sinwardness  is 
thrown  along  the  whole  of  our  earthly  path. 
However  early  anyone  may  begin  to  form  a  Chris- 
tian purpose,  he  begins  under  that  shadow.  It 
follows  him,  often,  far  into  a  mature  Christian 
life.  Adult  disciples  have  cried  out,  as  St.  Paul 
did,  who  shdl  deliver  me  from  this  body  of  death  ? 
In  most  cases,  at  least.  Christian  piety,  even 
though  it  be  the  product  of  a  new  birth,  lacks  the 
gleeful  spontaneousness  of  a  nature  originally 
pure.  Its  bearing  resembles  more  or  less  the 
wary  vigilance  of  servants  who  wait  in  the  night 
for  their  Lord. 

2.  Another  fact  in  human  experience  is  that^ 
very  commonly,  before  men  really  enter  upon  the 
Christian  purpose,  their  native  tendencies  have 
already  taken  the  hardness  of  cherished  habits 
in  transgression.    The  Master  long  ago  said.  Suffer 


106  GIRDED  AND   WATCHING. 

the  little  children  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid  them 
not,  but  despite  all  that  we  teach,  great  numbers, 
even  in  Christian  families,  live  many  years  without 
coming  to  him.  Meanwhile  they  fall  under  the 
power  of  sinful  habits.  These  habits  are  strong. 
They  are  not  overcome  by  mere  singing.  Many  a 
man  has  wept  to  find  the  power  of  even  one  such 
habit  over  him.  Whoever  takes  up  in  earnest  the 
resolve  to  put  on  the  new  man  knows  that  it  is 
like  the  sundering  of  soul  and  body  to  put  off  the 
old  man  with  his  deeds.  He  smiles  about  it,  per- 
haps, who  has  never  set  himself  against  an  easily 
besetting  sin.  They  laugh  not,  who  have  resisted 
unto  blood  against  such  sin.  The  Christian  life  is 
real,  it  is  earnest,  in  such  souls. 

Besides,  we,  all  of  us,  naturally  expect  to  see  in 
one  who  has  been  overtaken  in  a  fault  and  who 
professes  penitence  on  account  of  it,  a  carefulness 
as  respects  that  fault  which  we  would  not  expect 
from  one  who  had  never  been  involved  in  that 
fault.  Should  not  a  burnt  child  dread  the  fire? 
Should  not  a  man  who  has  been  degraded  by 
strong  drink  be  peculiarly  intense  in  his  opposi- 
tion to  it  and  specially  watchful  regarding  it  ? 
Ought  not  John  B.  Gough  to  have  a  certain  quality 
as  a  temperance  advocate,  which  he  would  not  have 
if  he  had  never  himself  been  overcome  ?  Is  it  not 


GIRDED  AND   WATCHING.  107 

seemly  for  one  who  has  been  untruthful  to  show 
his  changed  character  by  a  marked  conscientious- 
ness and  painstaking  in  reference  to  that  defect  ? 
Cranmer  was  tempted,  while  in  prison,  to  recant 
with  his  hand  the  beliefs  he  cherished  in  his  heart. 
It  was  a  fitting  impulse  with  him,  therefore,  when 
afterward  he  was  brought  to  the  stake,  to  hold  that 
right  hand  in  the  flame.  Must  not  we,  all  of  us 
who  have  come  under  the  power  of  sin,  have  a 
different  air  and  mien  from  what  we  might  properly 
have  had,  if  we  had  always  obeyed  the  voice  of  God 
within  us  ? 

3.  A  third  fact  connects  itself  intimately  with 
the  one  now  mentioned  and  tends  in  the  same 
direction  ;  that  is,  the  consciousness  of  guilt.  When 
any  one  of  us  proposes  to  enter  upon  a  new  life, 
he  remembers  that  the  past  sinfulness  is  on  record 
against  him.  It  is  on  an  ineffaceable  record. 
Memory  can  no  more  die  than  himself.  History 
can  never  be  obliterated  from  the  divine  knowl- 
edge. Might  it  not  be,  on  the  contrary,  that  some 
heightened  sense  of  the  evil  of  sin,  some  more 
vivid  realization  of  its  bitter  consequences,  even 
the  surer  revelation  of  God's  love,  should  make 
the  memory  of  our  wrong-doing  a  worse  pain 
than  it  ever  has  been  ?  Such  questions  have,  in 
some  sensitive  hearts,  permanently  saddened  and 


108  GIRDED  AND    WATCHING. 

darkened  the  Christian  hope  itself.  The  years 
when  we  were  boys  and  girls,  are  our  ^-ears  now. 
They  are  just  as  much  a  part  of  us  as  any  thought 
or  feeling  that  we  are  cherishing  now.  How  could 
Paul  ever  forget  that  he  was  the  Saul  who  kept  the 
garments  of  them  that  stoned  Stephen  ?  The  new 
name  did  not  change  the  fact.  The  new  creature 
did  not.  He  felt  unworthy  on  account  of  it  till  his 
latest  days. 

We  must  conceive  of  Gabriel  as  being  humble, 
but  do  we  not  think  of  a  peculiar  humility  as 
belonging  to  those  who  have  been  forgiven,  not 
seven  times,  but  seventy  times  seven  ?  As  they 
stand  waiting  for  their  Lord,  their  recollections  of 
themselves  affect  sensibly  their  bearing.  Their 
preparation  for  him  is  more  scrupulous.  For  it 
springs  out  of  hearts,  which,  having  been  forgiven 
much,  love  him  much,  and  not  only  much,  but 
with  a  certain  lowliness,  delicacy  and  tenderness, 
that  stand  related  only  to  the  experience  of  ill- 
desert.  Do  you  not  see  in  them  a  noticeable  desire 
to  be  so  well  girded,  and  to  have  so  perfect  lights, 
all  so  brightly  burning  for  him  ?  Intense  as  is 
the  seraph's  zeal,  complete  as  is  his  prostration 
before  the  Holy  One,  there  must  be  an  element 
of  zeal  and  of  humility  both  in  the  attitude  of 
one   who   waits   for  the   master   with  the    recol- 


GIRDED  AND    WaTlHING.  109 

lection  of  guilt  forgiven,  which  the  seraph  cannot 
experience. 

4.  Still  another  feature  in  human  probation 
which  must  affect  the  type  of  piety  in  this  world 
is  the  presence  and  activity  of  temptation.  It  is 
difficult  to  conceive  of  any  region  where  moral 
beings  exist  that  can  be  wholly  void  of  temp- 
tation. Even  in  what  is  called  heaven  there  were 
angels  that  kept  not  their  first  estate.  But  we 
must  suppose  that  this  earth  is  eminent  as  a 
scene  of  temptation.  Here  evil  fearfully  assaults 
and  cunningly  allures.  It  is  made  a  business. 
The  air  we  breathe  is  alive  with  it.  The  news- 
papers tell  us,  day  after  day,  the  story  of  men 
and  women  of  high  social  and  even  religious 
repute,  who  have  succumbed  to  the  lust  of  the 
flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  or  the  pride  of  life. 
The  lesson  is  forced  upon  us  that,  if  any  of  us 
would  be  sure  to  stand,  we  must  take  heed  lest 
we  fall.  Piety,  in  such  a  world,  must  be  vigilant 
in  a  marked  degree.  Our  religion  must  dress, 
not  in  the  white  garments  of  pea^ce  and  of  heaven, 
but  in  coats  of  mail.  It  should  be  sweet  and 
amiable,  yet  it  fails  and  comes  to  shame,  unless 
it  be  strictly,  I  had  almost  said,  severely,  con- 
scientious. 

5.  Bat  this  peculiar  seriousness  which  appro- 


110  GIRDED  AND    WATCHING. 

priately  tinges  piety  here,  is  deepened  by  this 
additional  fact,  the  needy  moral  condition  of  our 
fellow  men.  If,  on  coming  to  himself,  the  prodi- 
gal found  that  he  was  the  only  son  to  be  returned 
to  filial  obedience,  life  would  wear  a  far  less 
serious  aspect.  If  one  of  these  waiting  servants 
found  that  all  his  fellow- servants  were  wakeful, 
the  night  of  watching  were  less  anxious.  But 
if  his  fellow-servants  are  numerously  ungirded, 
if  they  are  even  eating  and  drinking  in  selfish 
unconcern  or  wild  disorder,  then  the  night  is 
more  dark,  and  the  care  and  watching  of  the  one 
or  the  few  must  be  more  urgent.  But  every 
intelligent  Christian  man  looks  out  upon  millions 
of  his  fellow-men,  who  are  unready  to  meet  their 
Lord  at  liis  coming.  They  are  ignorant,  preju- 
diced, degraded,  indifferent,  proud,  vicious.  Physi- 
cal pain  and  acute  mental  suffering  meet  his 
eyes  at  every  turn.  Such  a  sight  colors  with 
sympathetic  sadness  and  loving  earnestness  Chris- 
tian character. 

For  just  imagine  how  it  would  take  the  intensity 
out  of  the  Church,  if  it  were  to  become  void  of 
the  philanthropic  or  missionary  spirit.  How  it 
would  have  ungirded  the  loins  of  such  men  as 
Martyn,  Judson,  Stoddard.  Martyn  might  then 
have  taken  his  learned  leisure  under  the  shadow 


OF  THE  ^     X 

versitt) 

GIRDED  AND    WA*P€.^Ma3rOnH^^^^^ll  1 

of  an  English  University.  Stoddard  might  have 
indulged  at  will  his  natural  taste  for  scientific 
studies.  Admit  for  a  moment  this  thought : 
If  there  were  no  sin,  or  no  considerable  amount 
of  it,  and  how  piety  might  put  on  its  holiday 
attire.  Doubtless,  discipleship,  on  this  suppo- 
sition, might  be  genuine,  worthy,  beautiful,  useful, 
but  it  would  be  a  very  different  thing  from  what 
it  needs  to  be  now  and  here.  It  must  lack  that 
tinge  of  loving  sorrow  and  self-denial,  of  which 
the  cross  is  the  sign.  Here  piety  is  placed  where 
it  must  weep  with  those  that  weep  as  often  as  it 
rejoices  with  the  joyous.  It  is  in  the  midst  of 
conflict.  It  must  be  subject  to  the  alternations  of 
fear  and  hope.  The  moral  dangers  of  the  millions 
must  weigh  on  its  feeling.  The  interests  of  the 
Lord's  Kingdom  must  profoundly  affect  the 
servant's  sense  of  responsibility  during  the  Lord's 
absence.  The  care  of  such  a  house  as  Christ's 
Church,  in  the  night  of  his  long  tarrying,  in  the 
midst  of  a  hostile  and  imperiled  world,  must 
require  a  different  service  from  that  which  will 
be  needed,  when  the  night  is  fully  spent  and  the 
Master  has  himself  returned  and  all  the  foes  of 
righteousness  are  put  beneath  his  feet. 

6.     The   peculiar   watchfulness  which    is    war- 
ranted by  the  above  facts  of  human  life  is  made 


112  GIRDED  AND   WATCHING. 

the  more  urgent  by  another  weighty  consideration: 
the  time  in  which  our  piety  has  its  work  is  short. 
The  coming  for  which  the  servant  looks  seals 
up  the  issues  of  probation.  As  far  as  the  indi- 
vidual is  concerned,  the  present  fleeting  period 
gives  all  the  opportunity  that  is  revealed  for  a 
redeemed  character.  Vast  destinies  are  hanging 
in  the  balance.  There  seems  to  be,  therefore, 
in  this  hurrying  interval,  a  massing  of  forces,  a 
quick  battle,  and  the  issue  is  settled.  With  such 
results  pending  on  the  way  we  spend  the  brief 
night  of  our  Lord's  return,  how  different,  as 
respects  vigilance,  earnestness,  must  piety  be 
with  us  from  what  it  would  be  in  a  world  where 
was  no  sin  and  in  which  no  question  of  redemp- 
tion was  pressed  immediately  on  man's  personal 
decision.  As  it  is  here,  piety  must  be  grave  ; 
it  cannot  be  light  and  jocular ;  it  cannot  be  at 
ease  ;  it  must  work  and  watch,  the  loins  girded, 
the  lamps  burning,  instant  in  season  and  out 
of  season. 

7.  Still  another  consideration  should  be  men- 
tioned :  The  hour  when  these  decisions  will  have 
passed  is  an  uncertain  hour.  The  time  is  short, 
but  it  is  unknown.  This  makes  it  needful  to 
be  always  ready.  The  expected  Lord  may  arrive 
at  any  moment.     Who  that  has  read  that  poem, 


GIRDED  AND   WATCHING.  113 

entitled,  "  Coming,"  which  represents  one  waiting, 
in  sensitive  expectancy  of  the  Master's  advent, 
has  not  felt  the  plaintive  sweetness  which  such  ex- 
pectancy has  wrought  into  the  piety  which  could 
thus  express  itself  ? 

"  So  I  am  watching  quietly 

Every  day ; 
Whenever  the  sun  shines  brightly, 

I  rise  and  say  : 
Surely  it  is  the  shining  of  his  face  ! 
And  look  unto  the  gates  of  his  high  place 

Beyond  the  sea ; 
For  I  know  he  is  coming  shortly. 

To  summon  me. 
And  when  a  shadow  falls  across  the  window 

Of  my  room, 
Where  I  am  working  my  appointed  task, 
I  lift  my  head  to  watch  the  door  and  ask 

If  he  is  come ; 
And  the  Angel  answers  sweetly 

In  my  home  : 
Only  a  few  more  shadows 

And  he  will  come." 

The  Christian  character  into  which  such  a  viev? 
has  thoroughly  entered  and  been  inwrought,  musl 
be  other  than  it  will  be  when  the  period  oj 
waiting  ^hall  be  over. 

If  we  gather  now  these  sevec  facts       (1)  tha 


114  GIRDED  AND    WATCHING. 

we  awake  to  consciousness  here  with  sinward 
tendencies  ;  (2)  that  we  awake  to  a  new  moral 
purpose,  usually,  after  we  have  long  cherished 
habits  of  transgression  ;  (3)  that  a  sense  of 
guilt  lies  ever  just  beneath  the  surface  of  our 
thoughts ;  (4)  that  this  earth  is  for  us  and 
for  our  fellow-men  a  scene  of  temptation  ;  (5) 
that  we  are  to  have  our  work  in  the  midst  of 
a  world  whose  moral  necessities  are  very  great ; 
(6)  that  the  issues  pending  on  that  work  are 
compressed,  within  a  short  limit;  and  (7)  that  the 
hour  which  cuts  these  limits  short  is  uncertain  : 
if  we  gather  these  facts  into  one  statement,  embrac- 
ing so  much  more  than  these  brief  headings  can 
indicate,  we  shall  not  easily  escape  the  one  thought 
before  us,  that  holy  character  in  this  world  must 
wear  a  serious  aspect.  But  there  is  another  fact, 
greater  than  all  these,  which,  while  it  justifies 
and  confirms  the  reasoning  I  have  followed,  adds 
its  own  transcendent  force  to  the  conclusions 
which  that  reasoning  reaches. 

8.  Eor  that  person,  who  of  all  perceived  in 
their  fullest  meaning,  only  without  sin,  these 
facts  of  human  probation,  assumed  in  consequence 
of  them  just  that  change  in  the  type  of  his  own 
holiness  which  we  have  found  the  facts  to  require 
of  ourselves. 


GIRDED  AND    WATCHING.  115 

The  Saviour  is  represented  to  us  as  once  living 
in  the  glory  he  had  with  the  Father  before  the 
world  began.  How  different  the  tone  of  his  life 
there  from  what  it  became,  when  he  humbled 
himself  to  assume  that  acquaintance  with  grief 
and  sacrifice,  which  began  in  his  lowly  birth  and 
reached  its  utmost  intensity  in  the  passion  of  the 
cross.  But  for  these  moral  conditions  of  mankind, 
his  holiness  would  never  have  been  known  as  the 
mind  which  was  in  Christ  Jesus.  Theologians  do 
speculate  that  our  Saviour  would  have  taken  our 
human  form,  even  if  there  had  been  no  sin.  But 
even  such  theologians  do  not  doubt  that  the  form 
of  bis  incarnation  would  have  been  quite  different 
from  that  of  the  crucified  Jesus.  But,  as  it  was, 
he  whose  righteousness  was  perfect  blessedness, 
became  a  man  of  sorrows.  He  whose  home  is  in  the 
city  of  God,  where  are  no  tears,  beheld  the  cities 
of  earth  and  wept  over  them.  Surely  it  is  fitting 
that  the  servants  should  be  as  the  Master.  If  his 
piety  took  on  a  tinge  of  seriousness  by  contact 
with  this  earth,  it  need  not  be  strange  that  our 
piety,  which  is  not  sinless  like  his,  should  have 
this  aspect  of  seriousness  also. 

Indeed,  in  view  of  this  presentation  of  facts,  it 
may  be  said  now,  and  with  emphasis,  that  the 
Christian  reason   abliors  a  professedly    Christian 


116  GIRDED  AND   WATCHING. 

character  which  is  not  pervaded  by  an  earnest 
purpose.  A  life  that  is  predominantly  frivo- 
lous, gossipy,  ready  to  sacrifice  everything  to  a 
laugh,  impatient  for  amusement,  or,  being  not 
quick  enough  to  be  really  mirthful,  is  used  up  in 
trifles,  conventionalities,  small  talk,  small  music, 
small  literature,  is  the  abomination  of  the  Chris- 
tian understanding.  These  lighter  things  of  our 
existence  are  not  to  be  condemned.  There  is  a 
time  and  a  place  for  them.  They  have  their  helpful 
functions.  But  the  life  that  is  absorbed  in  these 
is  incapable  of  defence.  It  is  like  the  singing  of 
merry  airs  to  a  heavy  heart,  in  the  midst  of  a 
severe  calamitv,  in  the  room  where  your  best 
friend  lies  dead.  The  new  creation  groaneth  and 
travaileth  to  be  rid  of  men  and  women,  whose  pre- 
vailing conception  of  living  is  to  have  a  good  time. 
They  are  not  girded  for  any  service  of  the  Master. 
They  have  no  lamps  burning  to  welcome  his 
return. 

For,  it  should  be  said,  also,  that  the  principle 
which  underlies  this  discourse  is  of  wide  application. 
That  principle  is  that  our  duty,  and  so  the  type  of 
our  religion,  must  be  shaped  not  a  little  by  the 
actual  world  in  which  we  have  our  lot.  Even  our 
Lord's  individuality  was  influenced  by  the  con- 
dition of  the  humanity  which  he  came  to  redeem. 


GIRDED  AND    WATCHING.  117 

So  we  are  not  to  say  absolutely,  such  is  my 
nature,  temperament,  taste,  affinity.  Or  sucli  is 
my  ideal  of  what  a  Christian  should  be.  The 
question  is,  what  should  you  be,  what  should  you 
do,  the  world  in  which  you  live  being  what  it 
actually  is?  If  we  were  at  liberty  to  carve  out 
our  career  to  suit  our  individual  ideals,'  many  of 
us  might  choose  quite  different  courses.  But  we 
are  not  at  such-diberty.  We  are  sinners  in  a  sin- 
ful world.  We  must  often  deny  our  preferences. 
We  may  be  called  upon  to  watch,  though  it  be  our 
nature  to  sleep.  It  may  be  more  suitable  for  us 
to  be  sober,  even  if  it  be  our  temperament  to  be 
gay.  Not  what  kind  of  piely  would  I  have  to  suit 
myself,  but  "  seeing  these  things  are  thus  all  to  be 
dissolved,  what  manner  of  person  ought  I  to  be  in 
all  holy  living  and  godliness." 

But  let  no  one  suppose  that  this  serious,  vigi- 
lant piety  is  therefore  devoid  of  true  joy.  No 
doubt  it  may  appear  to  be.  There  may  be  a  good 
deal  of  what  is  called  fun  in  forgetting  the  stern 
facts  of  our  own  and  the  world's  need  and  in  grati- 
fying our  own  appetites  and  desires  and  tastes. 
The  servants  who  run  tlieir  risks  and  eat  and 
drink  and  are  drunken,  may  have  some  pleasures 
which  those  who  keep  their  lamps  burning  do  not 
enjoy.     But  it  is  just  as  true  that  these  watchful 


118  GIRDED  AND    WATCHING. 

servants  have  a  joy  to  which  the  others  must  be 
strangers.  The  serious  man  has  his  blessedness 
as  certainly  as  the  frivolous  man  has  his  pleasure. 
It  has  been  queried  whether  Christ  ever  laughed. 
We  do  not  read  of  it.  It  has  been  asked  whether 
there  are  any  signs  of  humor  in  his  words.  They 
are  few.  But  it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  therefore  he  was  gloomy.  "These- 
things,"  said  he  to  his  disciples  on  the  dark  night 
of  his  betrayal,  "  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  that  my 
joy  might  remain  in  you  and  that  your  joy  might 
be  fulfilled.""  There  was  joy  enough  in  that  great 
heart  to  thrill  millions  of  souls.  I  think,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  earnest-minded  disciples  have  quite  as 
much  wit,  humor  and  minor  pleasures  as  the 
average  of  people.  But  one  thing  I  know,  and  it 
is  much  the  more  pertinent  and  important  consider- 
ation, that  the  man  of  earnest  Christian  purpose 
has  a  blessedness  which  only  he  can  have.  For, 
says  our  text,  blessed  are  those  servants  whom  the 
Lord  when  he  cometh  shall  find  watching.  For 
the  approving  smile  of  the  returning  Master  is 
felt  in  their  hearts  long  before  his  form  can  be 
discovered  in  the  diminishing  distance. 


VIII. 
BLESSING  IN  PASSING. 

'^Passing  through  the  valley  of  weeping  make  it  a  place  of 
springs.'"— PsALU  84:  6. 

^  I  ^HESE  words  refer  to  companies  of  pilgrims 
^  journeying  to  the  place  of  national  worship 
in  Jerusalem.  These  companies  passed  over 
mountains,  along  steep  canons,  through  valleys. 
Some  of  these  valleys  might  be  lovely  ;  others  hot, 
parched,  sterile,  like  that  wilderness  into  which 
poor  Hagar  went,  and  where  she  cast  her  son 
under  the  bushes  and  sat  over  against  him  and 
lifted  up  her  voice  and  wept.  So  many  a  valley 
through  which  pilgrims  took  their  way  might  be  a 
valley  of  weeping.  The  point  in  our  text  is  that 
the  godly  man  on  his  heavenly  journey  will  make 
the  very  places  of  his  sojourn,  however  uncomfort- 
able, sources  of  blessing.  He  will  leave  a  well 
behind  him. 

Let  us  illustrate  our  text  by  a  reference  to  a 
familiar  scene  in  the  life  of  the  Saviour.  Several 
times  during  his  brief  public  career,  he  went  iip 


120  BLESSING  IN  PASSING. 

to  Jerusalem.  On  one  of  these  return  journeys, 
he  must  needs  pass  through  Samaria.  In  that 
narrow  and  hot  valley  near  to  Sychar  he  sat  down 
wearied  by  the  well  of  Jacob.  It  was  only  a  way 
station  in  a  hostile  country.  The  sun  was  at  its 
meridian,  for  it  was  about  the  sixth  hour.  All 
that  the  disciples  who  were  with  him  thought 
of  just  now  was  to  get  some  food.  As  for  striking 
any  new  springs  for  others,  it  does  not  seem  to 
have  entered  their  minds.  But  the  Master  found 
meat  to  eat  they  knew  not  of.  He  gave  to  the 
woman  who  chanced  to  meet  him  there,  and  to 
many  people  of  the  adjacent  town,  a  well  spring- 
ing up  unto  eternal  life.  So  far  as  we  partake  of 
the  Master's  spirit,  we  shall  leave  whatever  places 
we  pass  on  this  earthly  journey  richer  for  our 
passing. 

For  it  may  be  shown,  first,  that  the  great  and 
immortal  hope  of  the  Christian  pilgrim  makes 
the  life  he  lives  here  have  its  highest  meaning  and 
worth.  We  meet  with  thousands  of  experiences 
which  are  endurable  to  us  only  on  the  expectation 
that  by  and  by  we  shall  have  gone  past  them  to 
something  which  is  better.  It  is  astonishing  what 
men  will  bear  and  even  find  a  certain  delight  in, 
when  they  are  looking  forward  to  some  object 
beyond.     A  camp-life  which  has   not  a  few  dis- 


BLESSING  IN  PASSING.  121 

comforts,  may  be  made  to  seem  quite  enjoyable 
to  those  who  are  goiug  to  Yosemite  or  Mount 
Shasta.  The  miserable  days  of  voyage  at  sea  have 
been  braved,  even  by  some  delicate  invalid,  that 
she  might  visit  Paris  or  look  at  the  Swiss  glaciers. 
The  hazards  and  annoyances  of  Africa's  explora- 
tion are  frightful,  but  men  press  on  at  risk  of 
fever  and  poisoned  arrows  that  they  may  open  the 
dark  continent.  Stanley  noted  how  depressed, 
sullen,  lifeless  or  desperate  some  of  his  Zanzibar 
companions  became,  after  they  had  gone  hundreds 
of  miles  into  the  unknown  regions.  Days  and 
weeks  had  gone  by  and  still  the  great  river  flowed 
on,  as  if  it  never  could  end.  The  same  or  worse 
difficulties  stared  them  in  the  face.  Those  poor 
nations  had  no  clear  conception  of  the  goal  which 
their  leader  expected  to  reach:  it  was  difficult, 
therefore,  to  keep  up  the  spirits  of  these  men. 
The  vast  tract  of  country  through  which  they 
toiled  lost  its  charm,  because  of  the  oppressive 
feeling  that  they  were  never  to  come  out  of  this 
into  anything  which  would  be  to  them  home. 
Even  when  they  had  reached  the  coast,  it  was 
impossible  to  stimulate  some  of  them,  as  they  lay 
listless,  benumbed,  dying.  "  Do  you  wish  to  see 
Zanzibar,  boys?"  "Ah,  it  is  far,  nay,  speak  not, 
master,  we  shall  never  see  it."     It  makes  a  great 


122  BLESSWG  IN  PASSING. 

difference  with  the  life  of  any  of  us  whether  we 
are  sustained  by  an  unfaltering  hope.  It  is  no 
wonder  that  we  have  so  many  suicides.  For  so 
many  people  in  our  day  have  lost  the  strength  and 
cheer  which  come  from  the  clear  and  definite 
expectation  of  the  heavenly  world.  They  are  dis- 
enchanted ;  their  illusions,  they  profess  to  think, 
are  passed  away.  But  such  disenchantment  beg- 
gars human  existence.  How  can  the  soul  be  con- 
tent to  be  just  a  tramp,  who  has  no  continuing 
city  here  and  who  seeks  no  particular  one  to 
come. 

That  was  quaint  humor,  though  just  a  little 
sly,  in  Dr,  William  Goodell,  of  Constantinople, 
when  near  the  close  of  his  long  life,  he  visited 
Chicago,  and  being  asked  to  say  a  few  words 
there,  made  this  genial  speech  :  "  When  I  went 
from  my  native  country,  it  was  to  go  to  Jerusalem ; 
that  was  my  destination  ;  there  I  expected  to  live, 
to  labor  and  to  die  and  be  buried,  arising  again 
at  the  resurrection  of  the  just.  I  have  never 
been  there.  I  have  now  set  my  face  toward  the 
new  Jerusalem,  taking  Chicago  by  the  way." 
That  was  putting  Chicago  in  a  new  light.  But 
surely  it  makes  another  and  more  blessed  thing 
of  many  a  city  and  stopping  place  of  earth,  if  we 
put  it  in  connection  with  heaven.       The  moment 


BLESSING  IN  PASSING.  123 

we  look  at  any  place  of  our  sojourn  or  any  fortune 

of  our  life  as  linked  with  our   passage   to  glory, 

that  place  and  fortune  are  transformed.    The  alkali 

station  has  become   a   garden  with  fountains   of 

water. 

Again,   the   Christian  pilgrim   makes  the  vale 

of  weeping  a  well,  because  he  regards  his  passage 

through  it  as  included  in  the  divine  will.     There 

have  been  those  who  have  disliked  the  doctrine 

of  the  divine  purpose  in  every  event.     That  must 

have  been  owing  to  one  of  two  causes.     Either 

they  were   conscious    of    antagonism  to   God,    to 

him  who  made  the  purpose,  or  they  were  laboring 

under  some   misconception  as  to  the  nature   of 

his  purposes.     Some  years  ago,  when  one  of  our 

prominent  citizens  returned  from  some  months' 

stay  in  Nevada,  at  the  time  of  its  early  settlement, 

he  spoke  of  it  as  a  God-forsaken  land.     That  is  a 

favorite  designation  given  to  not  a  few  sections  of 

our  earth.    But  the  designation  is,  and  is  meant 

to  be,  the  worst  possible.     For  if  any  place  were 

really  deserted  of  God,  what  could  a  pious  man 

do  there  ?      He   could   neither  praise   nor  pray. 

Well  might  Madame  Guyon  sing, 

"If  I  were  cast  where  thou  art  not, 
That  were  indeed  a  dreadful  lot." 

It  is  a  hideous  thought.     To  a  believer  in  God 


]24  BLESSING  IN  PASSING. 

it  is  unthinkable.  That  is  indeed  the  joy  of  the 
religious  mind  that  it  is  able  to  discern  in  all 
events,  without  any  exception,  the  agency  of  the 
one  holy  and  perfect  will.  Every  valley,  even  if 
it  be  named  Weeping,  is  down  on  the  Heavenly 
Father's  chart.  It  is  related  of  Kichard  Weaver, 
that  once  riding  with  a  farmer  through  a  fair  nnd 
rich  district  of  England,  he  kept  speaking  of  the 
successive  farms  as  all  belonging  to  his  Father. 
This  very  much  irritated  the  farmer,  until  it  was 
explained  that  Mr.  Weaver  had  become  a  son 
of  the  Being  who  made  and  governs  all  the  world. 
The  moment  that  conviction  is  an  assurance,  the 
face  of  nature  and  of  history  is  changed.  The 
heart  finds  God  everywhere,  and  the  presence  of 
the  "  Great  Companion "  lights  up  even  the 
dreariest  place  and  the  strangest  experience.  We 
may  perhaps  sometimes  be  half  inclined  to  be 
incredulous,  when  we  read, 

"  While  place  I  seek  or  place  I  shun, 
The  soul  finds  happiness  in  none, 
But  with  my  God  to  guide  my  way, 
'Tis  equal  joy  to  go  or  stay." 

We  may  wonder  whether  Faber  was  express- 
ing a  sentiment,  or  a  real  experience,  when  he 
said, 


BLESSING  IN  PASSING,  125 

"111  that  thou  blessest  is  my  good, 
And  unblest  good  is  ill; 
Aud  all  is  right  that  seems  most  wrong, 
If  it  be  thy  dear  will." 

But  we  need  not  be  incredulous  nor  wonder,  for 
these  stanzas  only  conform  to  the  spontaneous 
language  of  Scripture.  "  Count  it  all  joy  when 
ye  fall  into  divers  temptations."  It  conforms  to 
what  has  been  felt  in  the  lives  of  men  and  women, 
whom  we,  ourselves,  have  known.  There  was 
one  I  remember  so  well,  who,  some  years  ago, 
went  to  the  hard  and  wretched  West  African 
Coast.  But  he  did  not  lose  there  his  perennial 
joy.  His  letters  expressed  his  habitual  cheer 
in  the  thought  of  the  Divine  Providence.  "  I  see 
and  know,"  he  says,  for  example,  "a  thousand 
difficulties,  but  above  all  is  God  and  with  joy  and 
gladness  of  heart  do  I  lift  up  my  head  and  praise 
him,  and  not  a  weight  remains,  not  a  care,  not 
a  sore  spot."  Once,  after  a  long  walk  through  a 
canon,  he  says,  "Ah,  how  I  enjoyed  that  walk, 
because  there  were  plenty  of  boulders,  and  on 
those  boulders  I  painted  text  after  text,  and  then 
I  cut  them  in  and  made  them  sure." 

For  we  may  now  add,  especially,  that  the  Chris- 
tian pilgrim  causes  the  vales  through  which  he 
passes   to    become   springs   of  blessing    by     his 


126  BLESSING  IN  PASSING. 

benevolent  spirit.  For  this  is  the  characteristic 
grace  of  the  Christian.  "Love  worketh  no  ill  to 
the  neighbor  :  therefore  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
law."  "Let  this  mind  be  in  you,  which  was  also 
in  Christ  Jesus."  But  the  mind  which  was  in 
Christ  was  that  which  spared  no  pains  to  confer 
favors.  If  you  have  ever  been  on  long  camps  and 
journeys,  you  will  have  noticed  that  sometimes 
things  seem  to  be  going  wrong.  It  will  be  found 
that  some  one  or  more  in  the  party  is  complaining 
or  criticising,  or  else  asserting  or  excusing  himself. 
But  have  you  not  seen  how  others  go  quietly  to 
work  to  put  things  to  rights  ?  They  speak  gently 
or  firmly,  as  the  case  requires ;  they  put  the  best 
face  on  what  is  untoward.  In  a  little  while,  the 
camp  is  cheerful,  the  disorder  has  ceased.  Oh,  it  is 
a  moral  miracle,  what  may  be  done  by  one  whose 
principle  and  policy  are  not  to  make  trouble  but 
to  make  peace,  not  to  look  on  his  own  things,  but 
to  care  for  the  good  of  all.  It  is  no  surprise  that 
Paul  should  have  spoken  such  fine  words  in  praise 
of  charity.  "Here  abideth  faith,  hope  and  love, 
but  the  greatest  of  these  is  love."  The  tendency 
of  toil  and  trouble,  of  hard  places  and  hard  experi- 
ences, is  to  turn  the  soul  in  upon  itself.  We 
think  a  great  deal  of  what  is  against  us.  Think- 
ing of  that,   we  proceed   to  distribute  here   and 


BLESSING  IN  PASSING.  127 

there  the  blame  of  it.  The  valley  we  were  in 
was  bad  enough  before,  but  now  it  is  too  bad  to 
think  of.  We  grow  sour,  censorious.  Is  there  no 
good  angel  that  can  restore  the  sunlight  and  the 
cheer?  There  is.  It  is  genuine  good- will.  It  is 
the  love  of  God  and  of  man,  the  spirit  that  seek- 
eth  not  its  own.  No  matter  through  what  valley 
it  is  our  lot  to  be  passing,  sickness,  loss,  disap- 
pointment, whatever  makes  the  eyes  weep  or  the 
heart  sore,  it  will  change  the  aspect  wonderfully, 
if  we  are  able  to  think  of  the  good  of  others  as 
well  as  for  our  own  good.  But  to  do  this  is  an 
instinct  in  Christian  discipleship. 

I  have  attempted,  now,  no  formal  or  exhaustive 
treatment  of  a  theme.  But  the  thought  suggested 
seems  to  me  exceedingly  important.  Because  we, 
Christians,  are  on  the  way  to  a  promised  home, 
because  we  can  pass  through  no  experience  on  the 
way,  in  which  God  is  not  present  according  to  his 
gracious  purpose,  because  we  have  come  to  love  to 
be  of  service  to  our  fellow-men,  therefore  we  can 
not  help  making  fountains  to  spring  forth  all 
along  our  route.  What  ought  to  be  true  is  true 
also.  The  genuine  disciples  are  what  the  Script- 
ures affirm,  the  salt  of  the  earth,  lights  in  the 
world.  Of  course,  you  and  I  may  justly  condemn 
ourselves  ;  we  may  deplore  that  we  are  of  so  little 


128  BLESSING  IN  PASSING. 

service ;  we  may  easily  criticise  many  who  bear 
the  Christian  name.  Of  course,  the  sharp-sighted 
censors,  outside  or  inside  the  Church,  may  find  lit- 
tle difficulty  in  pointing  out  the  defects  of  us  all. 
But,  after  all,  it  is  true  that  the  world  is  made  a 
far  happier  place  because  so  many  genuine  Chris- 
tians are  passing  through  it. 

Let  us  put,  therefore,  the  emphasis  on  the  fact 
that  the  good  of  which  our  text  speaks  is  realized 
on  our  journey.  Attention  is  sometimes  given  too 
exclusively  to  the  end  of  the  way.  To  be  saved  is 
thought  of  rather  than  to  be  saving.  To  get 
through  life  and  not  make  a  failure  at  last,  is 
spoken  of  as  the  main  attainment.  But,  now  and 
here,  down  in  the  vale  of  domestic  cares,  the  per- 
plexities of  business,  the  worry  about  the  things 
of  this  life,  we  do  not  expect  to  do  much  more 
than  struggle.  We  have  no  time  or  strength  to 
dig  wells.  But  this  is  certainly  not  all  that  we 
may  count  upon.  You  may  ride  through  many  a 
long  tract  of  country  in  this  State,  where  the 
houses  look  poor  and  the  farms  untidy  and 
unthrifty.  You  are  tempted  to  ask.  Why  don't 
you  put  out  a  flower  or  two,  or  a  tree?  Oh,  we  are 
only  renting  the  old  shanty  for  a  little  while. 
Why  don't  you  deal  more  generously  by  the  land 
from  which  you  take  your  yearly  crops?    Oh,  we 


BLESSING  IN  PASSING.  129 

have  no  title  ;  we  are  just  holding  these  lands  for 
a  year  or  so.  But  this  should  not  be  the  Chris- 
tian's way.  Even  if  we  are  sojourners,  it  is  in 
Immanuel's  land.  It  is  well  for  us  to  plant  a  rose 
in  the  yard,  even  if  we  are  to  leave  it  behind 
to-morrow.  When  Mrs.  Riggs,  of  the  mission  to 
the  Dakotas,  was  taking  her  first  experiences  in 
western  travel  fifty  years  ago,  as  she  was  prepar- 
ing the  tent  for  the  first  night,  she  was  disposed 
to  let  the  rough  surface  of  the  camping-ground 
remain  rough,  and  not  even  gather  grass  for  a  bed 
on  the  ground;  that  it  was  for  only  one  night. 
"But,"  said  Dr.  Williamson,  "there  will  be  a  great 
many  one  nights."  So,  the  good  woman  found, 
and  learned  that  even  for  one  night  it  is  best  to 
make  the  tent  comfortable. 

Let  us  put  emphasis,  also,  on  the  suggestion 
that  we  are  not  to  put  off  the  good  to  be  done 
till  some  future  period  or  condition  in  the  present 
life.  We  should  begin  digging  our  well  in  the 
valley  which  we  are  now  passing.  Boys  and  girls, 
young  men  and  women,  often  hope  to  be  useful 
some  time  ;  when  they  have  gotten  through  school, 
or  are  established  in  business.  But  the  present 
is  your  opportunity.  When  I  am  rich,  I  will  be 
benevolent.  But  you  cannot  be  one  whit  more 
benevolent  when  you  are  rich  than  when  you  are 


130  BLESSING  IN  PASSING. 

poor.  If  I  were  not  a  poor  widow,  I  would  do 
something  for  the  cause.  But  it  was  the  poor 
widow  who  did  the  most.  If  my  husband  or  wife, 
or  father  or  mother,  or  children  or  neighbors,  or 
teachers  or  scholars  were  different,  I  would  be 
more  serviceable.  If  I  were  living  in  some  other 
place  or  went  to  some  other  church.  If  somebody 
I  knew  had  dealt  more  honorably  or  showed  me 
more  attention.  If  I  were  in  some  other  business. 
If  I  were  in  better  health.  So  we  go  on  thinking 
what  we  would  do  with  a  million,  what  we  will  do 
when  we  reach  some  other  valley.  But  it  is  in 
this  valley  through  which  we  are  now  passing  that 
we  are  to  set  our  streams  flowing. 

Let  us  put  emphasis,  likewise,  on  the  fact  that  the 
Christian  pilgrim,  if  he  be  intent  on  loving  faithful- 
ness, will  exert  influences  in  passing  of  which  he 
may  be  very  largely  unconscious.  He  may  dig  wells 
from  which,  so  far  as  he  knows,  no  water  flows  or 
past  which  no  wanderer  travels.  He  passes  on  his 
way.  He  forgets  what  he  tried  to  do,  or  regrets  that 
his  time  and  labor  seem  thrown  away. .  But  the 
water  may  flow  afterward.  It  is  not  our  formal,  set 
attempts  to  do  good  which  alone  are  useful.   There  is 

"  That  best  portion  of  a  good  man's  Hfe, 
His  little,  nameless,  unremembered  acts 
Of  kindness  and  of  love." 


BLESSING  IN  PASSING.  181 

Christ  was  only  passing  Sychar.  He  had  no 
special  errand  thither.  His  conversation  was  no 
elaborate  discourse.  Yet  it  told.  As  long  as  the 
world  stands,  that  passing  conversation  will  do  its 
work  for  unknown  multitudes. 

Ihe  whole  theme  carries  quick  suggestion  to 
many  in  our  day,  who  are  travelling  from  place  to 
place.  To  look  at  trains  of  cars,  it  might  seem  as 
if  nothing  were  done,  nowadays,  but  travel.  Our 
neighborhood  and  our  congregations  change. 
Vacations  are  well  nigh  universal.  Thousands 
of  people  spend  large  portions  of  time  in  the  coun- 
try or  by  the  sea-side,  instead  of  at  home.  The 
temptation  is  to  take  a  vacation  from  the  Christian 
spirit,  life  and  service,  to  do  good  in  one  vale  but 
to  be  careless  in  some  other.  Are  we  not  shown 
to-day  that,  wherever  we  are,  we  should  maintain 
the  same  hope  of  immortality,  the  same  submis- 
sive trust  in  the  divine  will,  the  same  unselfish 
love?  Circumstances  and  conditions  change,  but 
we  must  abide  faithful.  The  beautiful  story  is 
told  of  a  famous  Danish  preacher,  that  one  went 
to  hear  him  and  was  surprised  to  find  him  dis- 
pensing the  word  of  life  to  so  few  persons.  Why 
should  he  take  pains  with  so  small  a  number? 
I  take  my  lesson,  replied  the  preacher,  from  yon- 
der spring  by  the  road- side.     There  are    times 


132  BLESSING  IN  PASSING. 

when  the  spring  is  thronged,  there  are  times  when 
perhaps  only  a  single  poor  way-farer  stoops  to 
drink.  But  whether  there  are  many  or  few,  the* 
spring  keeps  right  on,  the  volume  of  water  is  just 
as  strong  and  the  quality  is  just  as  pure  and 
reviving.  So,  the  true  Christian  maintains  his  love, 
faith  and  hope,  whether  with  many  or  with  few, 
whether  present  or  absent,  at  the  sea-side  and 
among  the  mountains,  in  the  place  of  his  recrea- 
tion as  well  as  in  the  routine  of  church  life  at 
home. 

The  theme  emphasizes  the  value  of  the  new 
birth,  the  early  formation  of  the  decidedly  Chris- 
tian character.  The  valleys  through  which  we 
are  passing  are  thronged  with  the  Philistine 
element.  That  element  digs  no  wells  and  often 
stops  up  those  fountains  which  are  opened  by 
Christian  charity.  It  is  wanton  and  selfish.  They 
who  seek  to  climb  mountains  and  reach  other 
favorite  resorts  often  find  that  the  gateways  are 
closed.  On  inquiry,  it  will  be  ascertained  that  so 
many  parties  of  pleasure-seekers  have  been  ruth- 
less and  careless.  They  have  cut  down  trees,  they 
have  destroyed  fences,  they  have  been  negligent 
of  their  camp-fires,  they  have  hunted  and  fished 
out  every  living  thing.  Of  pilgrims  of  that  sort 
the  world  tires.     The  world   is  too  full  of  them. 


BLESSING  IN  PASSING.  133 

They  represent  that  great  company  who  do  not 
help,  but  hinder  the  kingdom  of  light  They  leave 
every  vale  they  visit  worse  rather  than  better. 
Neither  home,  nor  neighborhood,  nor  church  has 
more  of  heaven  for  their  presence.  It  is  in  con- 
trast with  these  barren  and  even  hurtful  lives 
that  the  true  Christian  pilgrimage  takes  on  its 
incomparable  worth  and  charm.  If  we  really 
receive  Christ  into  our  life,  we  cannot  fail  of  add- 
ing something  to  the  faith  and  hope  and  righteous- 
ness of  the  families  and  communities  to  which  we 
belong.  How  can  any  of  us  think  of  remaining  in 
a  position,  that  increases  the  sin  with  which  the 
creation  groans?  The  valleys  through  which  our 
fellow-men  are  journeying  are  often  very  parched. 
Let  us  not  be  of  the  company  who  dry  up  what 
streams  do  flow.  Let  us  be  glad  that  there  is  one 
who  has  promised  that  if  we  join  ourselves  to  him, 
he  will  cause  that  his  truth  shall  be  in  us  a  well 
of  water  springing  up  unto  eternal  life,  and  that 
not  to  ourselves  alone,  but  to  our  fellow-men. 


IX. 
TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND. 

^'^  But  thanks  be  to  God  who  putteth  the  same  earnest  care  for 
you  into  the  heart  of  Titus.''''— 2  CoR.  viii :  16. 

THE  community  of  Christians  gathered  in 
Corinth  by  the  labors  of  Paul,  had  been 
rent  with  divisions  and  sore  tried  by  sins  within 
its  own  membership.  Rumors  of  how  things  had 
gone  wrong  came  to  Paul  over  the  sea.  Signs  of  a 
more  favorable  state  had  recently  appeared,  which 
gave  the  apostle  good  courage.  Still,  much  re- 
mained to  be  done,  in  order  that  the  Church  in 
Corinth  should  well  represent  the  name  it  bore. 
Paul  was  burdened  with  care  for  the  cause  there, 
as  he  was  everywhere.  If  he  could  only  be  every- 
where !  But  he  had  one  great  comfort.  If  he  could 
not  be  in  Corinth  himself,  he  had  a  younger  man 
whom  he  could  send.  And  that  younger  man,  Titus, 
had  the  same  earnest  care  that  he  had  himself. 

We  may  this  morning  take  Titus  to  represent  a 
certain  type  of  men,  whom  God  raises  up  in  every 
age.     As  Titus  took  Corinth  into  his  heart,  so  the 


136  TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND. 

men  of  this  type  take  the  great  interests  of  the 
Christian  cause.  The  fact  that  God  puts  this 
spirit  into  these  men  is  one  great  cause  for  thank- 
fulness. 

When  any  one  passes  the  age  of  mere  boyhood 
and  begins  really  to  front  the  facts,  he  will  see  that 
this  is  a  very  needy  and  sinful  world.  It  is  possi- 
ble, and  we  all  know  how  natural  it  is,  for  him  to 
say  with  Cain,  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ?  this 
is  a  bad  state  of  things  I  see,  wherever  I  turn  my 
eyes,  but  it  is  no  concern  of  mine.  The  parable 
of  the  good  Samaritan  pictures  the  situation.  The 
priest  and  Levite  see  the  misery  of  the  man  who 
has  been  robbed,  clearly  enough,  but  what  occurs 
to  them  is,  that  they  may  as  well  pass  over  to  the 
other  side,  see  as  little  as  possible,  and  get  on 
home  before  night.  That  way  of  taking  life  does 
not  remedy  the  evils  of  the  world.  It  increases 
them.  But  the  Samaritan  sort  of  man  takes  life 
quite  differently.  He  is  moved  to  lift  the  suffering 
traveller  and  set  him  on  his  own  beast,  and  pay 
his  charges  at  the  inn.  Surely  that  is  the  style  of 
man  which  the  world  needs.  And  the  question, 
whether  any  young  person  will  be  helpful,  will 
share  his  part  in  carrying  the  burdens  of  our 
humanity,  is  one  in  which  all  good  people  have  an 
intense  interest. 


TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND.  137 

For,  think  what  a  different  person  a  young  man 
will  be,  if  God  does  put  the  cause  of  his  fellow- 
men  into  his  heart. 

He  will  be  nobler.  For,  of  the  two  impulses 
which  clamor  to  be  followed,  he  has  chosen  the 
unselfish  one.  And  we  all  know  that  this  is  the 
noble  one,  and  the  other  is  ignoble. 

He  is  larger-souled.  If  he  had  elected  to  look 
out  for  himself,  as  the  main  thing,  he  would  have 
shrunk  so  as  to  hold  only  himself.  Now  he  has 
expanded  so  as  to  embrace  the  world. 

His  intellect  takes  wider  range.  For,  otherwise, 
he  would  have  been  principally  occupied  with  a 
set  of  facts  relating  to  his  own  gratification  or 
advantage ;  now  he  has  before  him  a  set  of  facts 
bearing  on  the  welfare  of  millions ;  he  is  more 
intelligent,  better  informed. 

His  energies  are  intensified.  For  the  greatness 
of  the  objects  which  solicit  his  interest  make  a  call 
upon  all  there  is  in  him.  His  hands  find  so  much 
to  do,  that  he  must  do  with  his  might. 

Now,  if  all  the  result  was,  that  the  young  man 
becomes  nobler,  larger-souled,  better  informed, 
and  his  manhood's  energies  summoned  to  intenser 
exertion,  he  would  have  reason  to  be  thankful.  If 
to  be  weak  is  to  be  miserable,  to  be  strong  and  full 
is  to  be  blessed.    And  his  friends  and  fellows  have 


138  TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND. 

reason  for  gratitude  also.  For  a  community  made 
up  of  souls  of  this  larger  pattern  may  well  rejoice. 

But  more  especially  is  it  a  matter  of  rejoicing 
when  God  puts  such  unselfish  earnestness  into  a 
youthful  heart,  because  all  this  fuller  manhood  is 
set  working  for  humanity.  When  Titus  takes 
Corinth  into  his  love,  he  not  only  becomes  more  of 
a  man  than  he  was,  but  this  increased  volume  of 
his  manliness  goes  to  the  good  of  Corinth.  Because 
Saul  of  Tarsus  became  charged  with  anxiety  in 
behalf  of  the  great  Gentile  world  of  his  time,  he 
was  transformed  ;  there  was  more  of  him,  and, 
besides,  all  these  increased  resources  were  spent  in 
the  interest  of  that  world.  When  he  was  martyred 
at  Rome,  the  moral  valuation  of  the  Empire  had 
gone  up  by  a  large  percentage.  For  the  spiritual 
richness  of  this  Jew  had  passed  into  the  life  of 
hundreds  of  Roman  citizens. 

It  should  be  noted,  moreover,  that  when  God 
puts  any  cause  into  a  young  man's  heart,  it  is  a 
sign  that  Providence  is  preparing  a  divine  blessing 
for  that  cause.  If  Titus  is  moved  to  undertake  a 
mission  to  Corinth,  he  may  count  on  the  fact  that 
God  is  moving  to  open  the  way  for  his  mission. 
When  John  Henry  Wichem  became  burdened  in 
spirit  on  account  of  the  neglected  children  in 
Hamburg,  that  burden  was  the  token  that  the  hour 


TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND.  139 

was  ripe  for  his  effort.  Other  minds  were  ready 
to  co-operate.  So  it  proved.  For  he  had  not  borne 
that  earnest  care  long,  before  some  one,  not  know- 
ing his  project  at  all,  gave  a  sum  of  money  to  one 
of  Wichern's  friends  for  some  charity.  A  few 
weeks  later,  a  bequest  of  five  thousand  dollars  was 
assigned  to  his  disposal.  And  soon  the  noble  piece 
of  land  on  which  the  famous  "  Rauhe  Haus  "  was 
built,  was  strangely  put  at  his  command. 

How  often  men  and  women,  who  seemed  to  be  all 
alone  in  their  zeal  for  some  work,  have  no  sooner 
set  themselves  toward  it,  than  they  have  been  im- 
pressed that  various  things  outside  of  them  had 
been  falling  in  with  their  errand  !  The  solitary 
impulse  which  possessed  them  was  itself  a  power 
in  the  world  for  good.  But  it  was  not  solitary. 
Other  minds  were  on  the  point  of  being  moved 
by  a  similar  impulse.  Elijah  was  mistaken  when 
he  gave  way  to  the  feeling  that  he  was  the  sole 
man  in  Israel  who  had  a  zeal  for  Jehovah.  There 
were  seven  thousand  men  who  would  have  been 
ready  to  follow  his  inspiration.  So,  often — per- 
haps always, — when  a  young  man  is  impressed 
with  some  benevolent  message,  he  may  rest  assured 
that  somewhere,  outside  of  him,  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence has  been  laying  the  train  which  is  only  wait- 
ing for  him  to  set  on  ^^Q- yy^sTimA^^;^ 

university) 


CALiFQRN>A>^ 


140  TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND. 

It  is  an  additional  occasion  for  tliankfulness 
that  when  God  puts  any  cause  into  any  one's  heart, 
it  so  often  turns  out  that  the  person  is  so  singu- 
larly fitted  to  meet  the  exigency.  If  Titus  had 
been  the  wrong  man  to  discharge  the  trust  of  a 
mission  to  Corinth,  Paul  might  have  wished  that 
the  idea  of  Corinth  had  never  entered  the  young 
man's  head.  It  is  possible  that  cases  have 
occurred  where  an  individual  has  been  seized  with 
a  great  passion  for  some  Christian  enterprise  and 
those  who  knew  him  have  said,  we  are  sorry,  for 
his  capacity  or  adaptation  are  nowise  equal  to  his 
passion.  Nobody  has  more  zeal  for  a  good  thing 
than  a  crank,  but  what  a  calamity  to  a  cause 
a  crank  may  be!  Still,  we  are  often  mistaken  in 
our  judgment.  For  it  has  many  times  happened 
that  a  young  man  who  wears  the  aspect  of  a  crank 
and  gets  the  name,  develops  into  a  remarkably 
wise  instrument  for  some  wise  end.  The  genera- 
tion that  was  afraid  he  would  hurt  the  business 
of  the  Lord's  house,  live  to  wonder  at  his  skill  and 
efficiency.  Certain  it  is  that  in  a  remarkable 
degree,  when  God  puts  a  mission  into  a  man's 
mind,  he  has  put  into  the  man  himself  a  peculiar 
capability  also.  The  young  students,  Judson, 
Nott,  Newell,  Mills  and  Hall,  who  were  con- 
strained to  inaugurate  the  foreign  missionary  work 


TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND.  141 

eighty  years  ago,  had  earnestness,  and  no  one 
doubted  that,  but  they  showed  also  no  common 
suitableness  for  their  pioneer  task.  When  a  few 
weeks  ago  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  Jud- 
son's  birth  was  celebrated  at  Maiden,  the  tributes 
paid  were  not  merely  to  his  rare  devotion,  but  to 
liis  equally  rare  intellectual  and  personal  force. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Peabody,  the  late  pastor  in  Harvard 
University,  did  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  had  Jud- 
son  not  given  himself  to  the  church,  "there  is  no 
height  of  earthly  station  and  renown  which  he 
might  not  have  reached  !" 

In  the  story  of  the  orphan  asylum  at  La  Force, 
in  France,  we  are  told  that  its  founder  fell  in  with  a 
young  beggar  by  the  wayside  one  winter's  even- 
ing, and  took  him  home,  giving  him  supper  and  bed. 
From  a  child  of  six  years  he  had  been  a  beggar, 
and  had  been  thrown  into  prison  as  a  vagabond, 
had  contracted  there  his  disease,  and  so  Pastor 
Bost  found  himself  with  a  cripple  on  his  hands. 
The  youth,  though  utterly  without  education, 
easily  learned.  But  he  was  physically  weak, 
and  what  could  be  done  with  him?  In  the  kind 
and  Christian  atmosphere  of  the  asylum,  his  heart 
had  been  touched  with  the  Divine  love.  And 
while  his  benefactor  was  thinking  how  to  dispose  of 
bim,  the  beggar  sent  in  a  request  for  aid  to  qualify 


142  TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND. 

himself  to  become  a  teacher  !  He  was  sent  to 
the  training  school  for  two  years  and  a  half,  and 
when  sixty-five  persons  were  examined  for  appro- 
bation, this  poor  waif  stood  at  the  top  of  the  list ; 
and  as  just  then  the  pastor  was  looking  for  the 
proper  person  to  take  charge  of  his  newly  built 
school,  the  proper  person  was  ready  at  hand.  For 
many  years  has  this  divinely  furnished  teacher 
fitted  exactly  into  the  divinely  furnished  place. 
The  story  of  benevolent  work  would  furnish 
equally  striking  illustrations  of  the  fact,  that  when 
God  inspires  in  the  soul  an  earnest  care,  there  is 
so  often  associated  with  it  some  excellent  qualifi- 
cation, which  calls  for  grateful  recognition. 

Notice,  again,  that  God's  work  in  such  hearts  as 
Titus  is  a  matter  for  thanks,  since  it  leads  and 
qualifies  men  to  do  those  moral  tasks  of  this  world, 
which  otherwise  would  be  too  difficult  or  even 
repulsive.  The  business  of  overcoming  the  world, 
resisting  those  currents  of  one's  age  which  are  at 
variance  with  righteousness,  is  always  difficult. 
Often  it  is  repulsive.  That  is,  it  cannot  be  done 
without  bringing  us  into  connections  which  are 
not  at  all  to  our  natural  taste.  Take  an  extreme 
case,  that  of  the  lepers.  They  are  a  needy  and 
pitiful  class.  The  secular  papers  even  have 
drawn  attention  to  the  labors  of  that  priest  who 


TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND.  ]43 

had  been  living  in  the  leper  colony  on  the  Islands, 
until  he  succumbed  himself  to  the  foul  disease ; 
and  to  the  successor,  who  has  lately  offered  him- 
self to  stand  in  his  place.  We,  all  of  us,  feel  that 
that  is  a  kind  of  service  to  which  our  whole  nature 
would  be  utterly  disinclined.  It  is  hard  to  con- 
ceive how  any  one  could  undertake  such  benevo- 
lent labor  unless  somehow  the  condition  of  those 
wretched  creatures  had  come  to  sink  into  the 
heart.  Or,  let  us  call  up  the  story  of  the  Moravi- 
ans from  the  beginning.  Among  them  it  has  been 
a  generally  accepted  sentiment  and  principle  to  go 
to  those  races  and  regions  of  the  world  in  which 
the  degradation  is  most  marked  and  where  even 
missionaries  regard  life  as  specially  undesirable. 
We  very  well  understand  if  such  service  is  to  be 
rendered  for  our  humanity,  it  must  be  some  extra- 
ordinary impulse  of  love  that  prompts  it.  Now, 
there  is  an  immense  amount  of  work  to  be  done 
in  a  sinful  world  which  is  of  this  sort.  The  great 
masses  of  our  kind  are  not  in  themselves  such  as 
one  would  choose  for  companionship.  I  am  told 
that  there  was  in  a  certain  city  of  California  a 
church  which  was  composed  partly  of  Armenian 
Christians.  But  the  church  has  had  small  congre- 
gations ;  because  the  Americans  were  loth  to 
worship  in  the  same  house  with  the  foreigners ; 


144  TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND. 

and  this  because  the  habits  of  the  Armenians 
were  not  cleanly  according  to  our  standard.  When 
I  heard  of  it,  there  came  up  to  my  sight  the  forms 
of  those  choice  and  refined  men  and  women  whom 
I  have  known,  who  have  spent  their  lives  in  the 
society  of  this  same  people  in  their  native  land, 
gone  in  and  out  of  those  disagreeable  cottages, 
which  often  are  more  what  we  call  hovels.  But 
the  Armenians  are  a  high-class  people,  compared 
with  a  great  many  races,  among  which  benevolent 
labors  are  to  be  wrought.  And  there  are  thou- 
sands of  our  own  countrymen,  who  are  white,  to  say 
nothing  of  those  who  are  colored,  that  are  fear- 
fully needy  of  moral  elevation  ;  and  yet  there  is 
no  probability  that  any  ordinary  motives  will 
prompt  their  fellow-citizens  to  do  among  them  the 
kind  of  work  likely  to  lift  them  from  their  low 
estate.  We  can,  all  of  us,  exclaim  against  the 
filth  and  vice  of  our  California  Chinatowns  and  of 
our  slums.  It  is  only  some  few  whose  hearts  God 
has  touched,  who  are  moved  to  do  anything  in 
downright  earnestness  and  patience  to  enlighten 
and  Christianize.  If  there  be  anything  for 
which  the  average  citizen,  comfortably  situated, 
clothed,  temperate  and  fairly  educated,  should  be 
thankful,  it  is  that  God  does  put  into  some  hearts 
the  earnest  care  which  leads  them  to  devote  them- 


TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND.  145 

selves  to  humane  services,  from  which  the  rest  of 
us  shrink. 

There  is  one  more  consideration  suggestive  of 
the  same  gratitude.  It  is  that  when  God  puts  the 
fully  Christian  care  for  any  community  in  any 
one's  soul,  that  soul  is  led  to  undertake  a  large 
and  thorough  service  in  its  behalf.  If  we  would 
appreciate  the  largeness  and  comprehensiveness 
and  wisdom  of  the  genuine  missionary,  let  us  read 
over  carefully  the  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians 
and,  indeed,  St.  Paul's  Epistles  generally.  We 
shall  be  impressed  with  the  fact  that  Paul  was  not 
in  the  field  to  ride  a  hobby,  and  we  may  be  sure 
that  Titus,  whom  he  sent  in  his  place,  was  of  the 
same  comprehensive  purpose.  We  have  reason, 
of  course,  to  be  gratefiil  that  men  are  raised  up 
who  are  interested  in  particular  directions  of 
improvement.  As  for  instance,  some  men  are 
moved  to  give  a  public  library  or  to  donate  a  park, 
or  to  put  up  a  fountain  in  the  street  of  a  city,  or  to 
advocate  prohibition,  or  to  found  a  semi-benevo- 
lent insurance  union.  The  blessed  peculiarity  of 
the  class  of  men  who  are  represented  by  Titus  is 
that  they  take  the  whole  interest  of  man  into 
their  affections.  They  care  for  the  entire  man, 
spirit,  soul  and  body,  and  for  each  part  of  him 
according  to   its   worth.     They   would   make  the 


146  TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND. 

society  into  which  they  enter  Christian  from  cen- 
ter to  circumference.  Take,  for  an  illustration,  the 
result  of  sixty  years'  pastoral  labor  by  John 
Frederick  Oberlin  in  the  villages  of  La  Roche. 
Nine  thousand  acres  of  sterile  soil,  no  roads  and 
the  rudest  paths  ;  the  people  poor,  indolent,  igno- 
rant. Yet.  when  his  work  was  done  ;  good  roads, 
bridges  and  dwellings ;  the  desolate  region  a 
garden ;  the  language  even  had  become  pure ; 
schools,  Sunday  schoools,  orphan  houses  and 
churches  had  been  erected.  All  had  sprung  from 
the  mission  of  one  who  believed  that  the  law  of  all 
thorough-going  reformation  is  in  the  sayings  of 
Christ,  "  Ye  must  be  born  again  " ;  "  Seek  first  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all 
these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  If  one 
visits  any  of  the  fields  where  any  of  our  American 
missionaries'  work  has  been  well  prosecuted  at 
home  and  abroad,  he  will  see  the  same  compre- 
hensive results  springing  out  of  this  Christian 
care  of  the  fields  with  which  they  have  identified 
their  lives.  Or,  for  instance,  when  that  young 
Englishman,  William  Duncan,  felt  his  soul  drawn 
toward  the  elevation  of  those  far  away  Indians  in 
British  Columbia,  how  broad  was  the  meaning  of 
the  word,  salvation,  which  he  went  to  teach.  It 
meant  not  only   individual   souls  redeemed,   but 


TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND.  147 

a  Christian  village,  with  its  temperance,  peace, 
thrift,  well-ordered  society.  How  great  a  good 
there  was  for  that  people  hidden  in  that  young 
man's  heart ! 

There  is,  every  way  we  can  look  at  it,  abun- 
dant reason  why  we  should  feel  just  as  Paul  did, 
when  we  see  that  any  young  friend  seems  to  have 
had  formed  within  him  an  earnest  care,  such  as 
the  apostle  noticed  in  his  friend  and  helper,  Titus. 
For  we  have  seen  (1)  that  he  becomes  a  nobler  and 
richer  being  ;  and  (2)  that  all  the  richer  manhood 
is  held  for  the  benefit  of  human  life  ;  and  (3)  that 
this  impulse  is  a  sign  and  pledge  of  some  divine 
blessing  making  itself  ready ;  and  (4)  that  such 
care  so  often  makes  one  wonderfully  adapted  to  the 
work  he  is  moved  to  undertake,  and  (5)  that  it 
enables  one  to  undertake  needed  moral  tasks  other- 
wise too  difficult  or  repulsive,  and  finally,  that 
when  the  impulse  comes  along  the  line  of  the 
Scriptural  teaching,  it  embraces  within  it  so  com- 
prehensive and  thorough  an  endeavor. 

It  is  a  great  thing  for  anyone  who  is  beginning 
to  approach  the  more  decisive  periods  of  youth,  to 
find  in  himself  a  strong  desire  to  do  some  of  the 
service  which  Christ  has  to  offer  for  the  world. 
That  is  what  is  usually  thought  of  Christ  himself 
when  twelve  years  of  age.     "  Wist  thou  not  that  I 


U8  TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND. 

must  be  about  my  Father's  business?  "  How  dif- 
ferent is  this  impulse  from  that  of  so  many  boys  and 
girls  who  have  taken  nothing  but  passing  fun,  or 
ease,  or  the  lower  gains  into  their  thought  !  What 
a  glad  change  that  is  in  our  children,  when  we  find 
that  they  have  begun  to  go  out  of  themselves  and 
to  set  their  affections  on  some  career  that  is  likely 
to  leave  the  world  better  ?  Does  this  movement  of 
God's  Spirit  sometimes  break  in  upon  your  lighter 
hours?  Is  there,  even  while  we  speak  this  morn- 
ing, a  divine  suggestion  coming  home  to  any  child 
or  youth  leading  into  this  larger  direction  ?  By  all 
means,  let  it  have  room  ;  let  it  lead  you  ;  cherish  it. 
It  was  said,  about  the  opening  of  the  present 
year,  that  some  fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand 
young  people  in  our  schools  and  colleges  had 
expressed  themselves  as  ready,  if  the  way  opened, 
to  offer  themselves  to  Christ's  work  in  foreign 
lands.  If  that  were  a  well-founded  statement,  how 
much  it  meant  for  those  persons,  and  how  much  it 
meant  for  the  welfare  of  the  nations  !  To  be  sure, 
it  is  not  necessary  for  us  all  to  take  to  heart  some 
particular  land  beyond  the  seas.  But  it  is  neces- 
sary for  us  to  take  to  heart  the  moral  necessities 
of  our  age  somewhere,  not  as  a  sort  of  general 
sentiment,  but  as  something  to  which  our  nature 
draws  in  all  its  fibre. 


TITUS  AND  HIS  KIND.  149 

This  course  of  thought  emphasizes  the  interest 
which  Christian  churches  and  all  well-wishers  of 
mankind  have  in  institutions  of  learning.  For  it 
is  such  institutions  in  which  are  most  likely  to  be 
found  those  young  people  who  are  smitten  with 
the  great  Christian  passion  for  overcoming  the 
world.  It  is  these  institutions  which,  when  one  is 
already  smitten  with  this  passion,  foster  it,  and 
furnish  the  facilities  by  which  those  who  do  want 
to  be  useful  may  be  trained  to  the  most  efficiency. 
That  is  what  gives  the  rare  interest  with  which 
our  own  seminary  is  regarded  by  us  who  are  most 
nearly  related  to  its  conduct.  We  stand  at  its 
doors,  and  who  are  they  who  may  be  expected  to 
apply  and  whom  it  is  a  pleasure  to  welcome  ? 
They  are  those  who  tell  us  :  God  has  put  in  my 
heart  the  cause  of  Christ  in  this  or  in  distant  coun- 
tries ;  I  am  drawn  out  in  my  sympathies  toward 
the  kingdom  of  the  Saviour;  I  want  to  be  fitted 
to  share  the  burdens  of  those  who  are  already  in 
the  field  and  to  take  the  place  of  those  who  are  to 
soon  drop  by  the  way.  And  we  wish  that  all  the 
Churches  should  be  interested  both  to  encourage 
these  young  men  to  devote  themselves  to  this 
high  calling,  and  also  to  enlarge  the  resources  and 
increase  the  power  of  the  institution  itself. 


X. 
WHAT  MADE  CHEIST  MARVEL. 

"And  when  Jesus  heard  it,  he  marvelled.''''— Matt.  8:10. 

WE  are  familiar  with  the  fact  that  our  Saviour 
wa's  an  object  of  wonder.  The  prophet 
predicted  that  his  name  should  be  called  "the 
wonderful."  The  people  who  heard  him  wondered 
at  his  gracious  words.  His  miracles  astonished 
the  multitudes  that  witnessed  them.  Men  like 
Nicodemus  and  Pilate  marvelled  at  him.  He 
avoided  ostentation ;  he  was  the  opposite  of 
what  we  understand  by  sensational ;  yet  his  career 
from  beginning  to  end  was  a  surprise.  But  have 
we  inquired  whether  he  was  ever  surprised  him- 
self? He  came  to  this  earth,  we  say,  from 
heaven ;  did  he  find  anything  here  that  amazed 
him?  He  had  an  unusual  knowledge;  he  knew 
beforehand  what  was  in  men's  minds  and  what 
was  going  to  happen  in  his  own  and  other  men's 
lives  ;  he  seemed  strangely  prepared  for  all  the 
sequences  and  exigencies  in  his  sojourn  among 


152  WHAT  MADE  CHRIST  MARVEL. 

men  ;  was  it  possible  that  such  a  being  should 
meet  any  experiences  which  would  arouse  in  his 
soul  the  emotion  of  wonder?  Our  text  gives  at 
least  one  occasion  when  Christ  marvelled ;  there 
may  be  others  ;  and  what  struck  him  as  a  marvel 
may  be  suggestive  to  us. 

Twice  in  our  Lord's  life,  we  are  told  that  he 
was  surprised  at  the  disclosure  to  him  of  the  evil 
in  his  fellow-men.  We  know  that  he  was  too  deep- 
sighted  to  have  roseate  views  of  human  character 
at  any  time.  He  had  charity  ;  but  his  charity  did 
not  blind  his  vision.  Beneath  all  the  plausible 
surfaces  of  society,  his  pure  spirit  saw  the  plague- 
spot  of  our  humanity.  He  came  to  call  sinners 
to  repentance.  Doubtless,  no  day  passed  in  which, 
however,  his  fresh  contact  with  sinners  did  not 
newly  and  powerfully  impress  him  with  the  won- 
der there  is  in  sin.  People  with  dulled  moral 
sense,  acquainted  with  the  world,  expect  to  see 
dishonesty,  falsehood.  But  they  would  regard 
it  as  a  mark  of  quite  too  much  simplicity  to  be 
shocked  by  dishonesty  and  falsehood.  But  our 
Lord's  acquaintance  with  the  world  never  dulled 
his  perception.  He  did  not  get  so  used  to  evil  as 
to  lose  the  sense  of  its  evil.  Must  not  sin  always 
excite  fresh  surprise  in  a  holy  mind? 

But  on  two  occasions  we  are  distinctly  told  that 


WHAT  MADE  CHRIST  MARVEL.  153 

this  astonishment  struck  deep  into  the  Master's 
Spirit.  Once,  when  he  went  to  Nazareth,  where 
was  his  home.  He  taught  in  the  synagogue  there. 
Many  who  heard  him  were  astonished  at  the  wis- 
dom with  which  he  spake  and  the  mighty  works 
he  wrought.  But  when  they  bethought  themslves 
that  they  had  known  his  mother  and  brethren  for 
years,  tliey  rejected  his  claims.  Then  it  is  said 
"  he  marvelled  at  their  unbelief."  For  he  had 
come  to  his  own  and  his  own  received  him  not. 
Those  who  had  the  very  best  opportunity  to  test 
his  claims,  turned  away  from  him.  Some  trivial 
local  feeling  shut  their  eyes  to  his  spiritual 
superiority.  And  you  remember  that  we  are  else- 
where told,  and  much  later  than  this,  that  his  own 
brothers  did  not  believe  in  him.  It  was  strange, 
it  was  strangely  sad,  to  him  that  he  could  come  so 
near  to  his  townsmen  and  yet  they  did  not  per- 
ceive the  marks  of  his  Messiahship  ;  or  if  they 
perceived  them,  they  allowed  so  small  pretexts  to 
steel  their  hearts  against  him.  But,  I  query,  my 
friends,  whether  there  be  not  similar  occasion  for 
marvel  on  account  of  many  in  these  Christian 
lands.  Christ  has  been  illuminating  all  the  cen- 
turies ;  he  is  cleansing  and  saving  human  souls  in 
far  distant  lands  ;  and  yet,  right  here,  among  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  our  Christian  homes,  how 


154  WHAT  MADE  CHRIST  MARVEL. 

many  there  are  who  do  not  trust  him  and  yield 
their  hearts  to  him  ;  they  may  wonder  at  his  wis- 
dom and  mighty  works,  but  personally  they  have 
no  part  or  lot  with  him. 

There  was  another  and  most  significant  occasion 
when  the  evil  in  the  world  deeply  shadowed  the 
spirit  of  our  Lord.  It  was  the  night  of  the 
betrayal.  It  was  in  Gethsemane.  He  taketh  with 
him  Peter  and  James  and  John,  and  began  to  be 
greatly  amazed  and  sore  troubled.  In  one  sense, 
there  could  be  nothing  new  to  him  in  the  events 
that  were  about  to  take  place.  He  had  expected 
them.  He  had  predicted  them.  Still,  experience 
is  a  different  thing  from  anticipation.  And  Jesus 
was  passing  into  the  experience  of  the  evil,  base- 
ness, malignity,  utter  blackness  of  human  sin.  It 
was  to  be  revealed  to  him  in  the  weakness  of  his 
disciples,  in  the  denial  of  Peter,  the  treachery  of 
Judas,  the  perjury  of  the  witnesses  against  him, 
the  shameful  injustice  of  the  Sanhedrim,  the  mad- 
ness of  the  mob,  the  indifference  or  scorn  of  the 
general  mass  of  men  who  should  wag  their  heads 
as  they  should  pass  by  his  cross.  The  shadow  of 
all  this  coming  experience  fell  heavily  into  the  soul 
of  the  Eedeemer.  "My  soul  is  exceedingly  sor- 
rowful even  unto  death."  I  do  not  presume  to  say 
that  this  was  all  the  darkness  that  he  experienced. 


Wn4^T  MADE  CHRIST  MARVEL.  155 

He  drauk  a  cup  which  no  other  being  has  been  called 
to  drink.  But  it  is  not  presuming  to  say  that  the 
amazement  which  is  spoken  of  as  having  suddenly 
overpowered  him  in  the  garden,  was  in  great  part 
occasioned  by  the  disclosure  there  made  to  him 
of  the  intrinsic  and  unutterable  enormity  that 
belongs  to  the  sinful  heart.  He  felt  it  to  the 
quick.  The  condemnation  of  it  went  through  him. 
He  had  identified  himself  so  closely  with  the  race 
he  came  to  save,  that  the  sight  now  given  him  of 
the  terrible  wickedness  that  is  possible  to  us  all, 
was  too  much  for  him  to  bear.  He  was  amazed  at 
the  severity  of  the  malady  he  had  undertaken  to 
heal. 

But  we  may  wonder  at  the  good  we  find,  as  well 
as  at  the  evil  that  confronts  us.  And  our  text 
suggests  one  instance  at  least  in  our  Saviour's  life, 
when  he  was  surprised  at  the  confidence  that  was 
reposed  in  him.  It  was  reposed  by  a  centurion, 
and  therefore,  doubtless,  a  foreigner.  It  was 
accompanied  by  a  lowly  estimate  of  himself  on  the 
part  of  this  foreigner.  "I  am  not  worthy  that 
thou  shouldest  come  under  my  roof."  The  confi- 
dence was  absolute.  *' Speak  the  word  and  my 
servant  shall  be  healed."  And  when  Jesus  heard 
it,  he  marvelled.  His  marvel  was  admiration.  For 
he  said  to  those  that  followed  him,  "  Verily,  I  have 


156  WHAT  MADE  CHRIST  MARVEL. 

not  found  so  great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel."  It  was 
so  sweet  to  find  in  unexpected  places  that  trust 
which  he  failed  to  find  in  Nazareth. 

"Ah,  Grace,  into  unlikeliest  hearts 
It  is  thy  boast  to  come, 
The  glory  of  thy  light  to  find 
In  darkest  spots  a  home." 

It  is  not  said  expressly  in  any  other  passage, 
that  our  Saviour  admired  the  grace  that  he  saw  in 
men.  But  there  are  several  other  passages  in 
which  he  expresses  himself  in  the  warm  language 
of  admiration.  For  example,  recall  the  case  of 
that  woman  who  came  crying  to  him  for  her 
daughter's  sake,  away  on  the  very  borders  of  Tyre 
and  Sidon,  and  who  turned  so  neatly  the  remark 
the  Lord  made  to  her  about  the  impropriety  of 
taking  the  children's  bread  and  casting  it  to  the 
dogs,  "  Then  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her,  O 
woman,  great  is  thy  faith  ! " 

Or,  we  may  cite  the  story  of  the  woman  who 
came  in  to  the  house  of  Simon,  the  Pharisee,  and 
in  such  an  excess  of  emotion  wet  the  Saviour's  feet 
with  tears,  and  anointed  them.  Over  against  the 
suspicious  surprise  of  the  Pharisee,  note  the  strain 
of  wondering  appreciation  with  which  the  Master 
defended  her  :  "  Wherefore  I  say  unto  thee  :  her 
sins,  which  are  many,  are  forgiven  :   for  she  loved 


WHAT  MADE   CHRIST  MARVEL,  157 

much."  One  might  have  expected  some  demon- 
strations of  respect  from  the  rich  and  polite  Phari- 
see ;  the  marvel  was  that  the  best  tribute  of  honor 
should  have  come  from  a  woman  whom  the  Phari- 
see loathed. 

Or,  call  to  mind  the  familiar  narrative  of  how, 
while  he  was  sitting  down  over  against  the  treasury, 
there  came  a  poor  widow  and  cast  in  her  two  mites. 
Few  people  noticed  her  gift.  There  was  one,  and 
he,  the  best  judge  of  all,  who  admired  it.  "  Verily, 
I  say  unto  you,  this  poor  widow  cast  in  more  than 
all  they." 

Once  more,  we  could  not  well  fail  to  adduce  the 
instance  of  Mary,  of  Bethany.  She  did  what  Judas, 
and ,  others,  thought  an  extravagant  waste.  But 
her  great  love  divined  what  was  both  most  timely 
and  appropriate.  Her  act  was  appreciative. 
It  was  received  with  notable  admiration  by  our 
Lord  ;  and  he  uttered  the  remarkable  prediction, 
"Wheresoever  this  Gospel  shall  be  preached  in 
the  whole  world,  that  also  which  this  woman  hath 
done  shall  be  spoken  of  for  a  memorial  of  her." 

It  is  an  exceedingly  pleasant  thought  to  me  that 
our  Saviour,  who  found  so  much  reason  to  be  sur- 
prised and  appalled  at  the  unbelief  and  the  black- 
ness, too,  of  the  human  heart,  should  nevertheless 
have  lieen   led  not  unfrequently  to   admire  also 


158  WHAT  MADE  CHRIST  MARVEL. 

qualities  in  the  human  character.  Those  who  are 
sharp  to  see  the  evil  in  mankind  often  seem  unable 
to  note  that  which  is  good.  That  which  appears 
good  they  are  inclined  to  suspect.  Our  Saviour 
sounded  men  to  the  depths.  He  exposed  their 
deceit,  hypocrisy  and  malice  with  an  unsparing 
severity.  He  taught  that  unless  the  heart  were 
changed  and  cleansed  by  a  thorough  renovation, 
there  was  no  place  for  it  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
But  this  did  not  prevent  his  seeing  quickly  and 
with  unstinted  praise  every,  the  least,  sign  of  holy 
character.  Even  the  cup  of  water  given  in  his 
name  should  not  lose  its  reward.  Do  we  not  some- 
times think  that  all  that  we  can  expect,  even  if 
we  are  Christian  disciples,  is  to  be  tolerated  in  the 
kingdom  of  God?  Let  us  remember  that  there 
were  persons  in  the  number  of  our  Lord's  early 
followers  who  were  not  tolerated  only,  but  admired. 
The  Master  was  surprised,  gratefully  surprised,  at 
the  graces  that  appeared  in  them. 

The  suggestion  does  not  seem  far-fetched  that  a 
Christian  church  should  be  characterized  by  an 
admiring  spirit  on  the  part  of  the  members  toward 
each  other.  We  sometimes  hear  a  certain  circle  of 
persons  spoken  of  as  a  mutual  admiration  society. 
Such  a  circle  is  often  thought  to  make  itself  ridicu- 
lous as  well  as  offensive.     No  doubt  there  is  some 


WHAT  MADE  CHRIST  MARVEL.  159 

danger  of  this.  But  that  danger  would  come 
because  of  something  selfish  and  shallow  in  the 
members.  To  praise  people  principally  because 
they  happen  to  belong  to  our  set  is  no  high  thing 
to  do.  But  who  can  properly  stigmatize  or  under- 
value that  spirit  in  a  company  of  disciples,  which 
makes  them  quick  to  recognize  the  Christian 
qualities  which  reside  each  in  the  others?  Surely 
the  lesson  we  take  to-day  from  the  Master  would  not 
lead  us  that  way.  The  most  beautiful  things  I  see 
anywhere  on  this  earth  are  Christian  faith,  love  and 
hope.  Sometimes,  in  the  exercise  of  a  critical 
judgment,  and  remembering  what  is  taught  us  of 
the  high  standard  of  true  religion,  I  see  spots  large 
and  dark  in  all  human  characters.  I  see  an  end 
of  all  perfection.  Nothing,  then,  seems  so  offen- 
sive as  great  pretentions.  But  I  remember  how 
the  Lord  spoke  about  the  centurion,  and  about 
those  women  alluded  to  to-day,  and  so  of  how 
much  there  is  to  admire  in  my  brethren  and  sis- 
ters within  the  Christian  church.  Let  us  not  wait 
till  they  are  dead  before  we  allow  our  minds  to 
dwell  on  their  excellence. 

We  do  well  to  direct  our  thoughts,  a  moment,  to 
what  those  qualities  were  which  won  our  Lord's 
admiration.  It  may  be  said,  in  general,  that  those 
for   whom   he   expressed  his    appreciation,   were 


160  WHAT  MADE  CHRIST  MARVEL. 

people  who  had  the  least  thought  that  they  were 
doing  or  saying  anything  admirable.  It  never 
entered  into  the  centurion's  mind  that  the  Master 
would  say  such  a  fine  thing  of  him.  Perhaps  he 
had  never  known  that  faith  was  such  a  notable 
grace  ;  or  if  he  had,  he  had  never  dressed  himself 
up  in  it.  He  had  a  great  want  in  his  heart.  The 
Master  had  shown  himself  worthy  and  able  to  meet 
that  want.  He  had  gone  out  and  treated  him  as  if 
he  were  worthy  and  able.  That  was  all.  So  with 
all  these  persons  who  won  approval.  They  had  a 
lowly  opinion  of  themselves,  but  they  trusted  and 
loved,  and  were  glad  to  do  anything  they  might 
for  their  King  or  his  cause.  Self  righteousness 
was  something  exceedingly  unlovely  to  Christ;  His 
severest  words  were  spent  against  it.  But  simple 
devotion  to  what  was  most  worthy  of  one's  confi- 
dence and  one's  love,  with  humble  estimation  of 
one's  self,  that  was  beautiful  to  him.  This  shows 
itself  in  the  picture  of  the  final  acceptance  of  those 
who  shall  be  rewarded  for  their  ministration  to 
Christ,  when  he  was  sick  or  in  prison.  Ah,  but  say 
the  righteous,  we  never  knew  that  we  did  these 
services  to  you.  Yes,  but  what  matter,  if  ye  did 
not  know  it.  All  the  better,  you  did  them,  and  did 
not  know  how  much  you  were  doing. 

The  desire  for  admiration  is  very  str6ng  in  our 


WHAT  MADE  CHRIST  MARVEL.  161 

hearts.  It  is  not  a  wholly  unworthy  desire.  So 
much  depends  on  whose  approval  it  is  we  seek  to 
gain  and  what  it  is  we  would  have  approved.  To 
know  that  we  are  admired  may  be  not  only  a  great 
and  deep  satisfaction  ;  but  it  may  give  us  lowly 
estimate  of  ourselves  and  grateful  feelings  to  God. 
To  be  assured  that  some  one  whom  we  have 
reason  to  reverence  has  expressed  his  glad  appre- 
ciation of  us,  can  hardly  fail  to  add  incentive  to  us 
to  live  worthily.  It  must  have  been  a  rare  pleas- 
ure to  those  women  who  saw  that  what  they  did 
was  admired  by  the  great  Master.  Yery  likely, 
most  of  us  who  sit  at  the  table  of  the  Saviour 
to-day,  have  rarely  ventured  to  think  that  anything 
we  have  ever  been  or  done  will  ever  be  thought  of 
by  the  Master  as  wonderful.  "  Wood,  hay,  stub- 
ble," that  is  all ;  very  common  ordinary  building, 
we  think.  And  we  are  right  about  it,  most  likely. 
The  Master  himself  has  put  the  matter  in  that 
way,  too.  For,  "  doth  the  Master  thank  the  servant 
because  he  did  the  things  which  were  commanded. 
Even  so  ye,  also,  when  ye  shall  have  done  all  the 
things  that  are  commanded  you,  say,  "  We  are 
unprofitable  servants  ;  we  have  done  that  which  it 
was  our  duty  to  do."  If  we  could  only  say  as  much 
as  that  without  a  mortifying  conscience,  we  would 
be  satisfied !    And  yet,  as  I  understand  the  Gospel, 


162  WHAT  MADE  CHRIST  MARVEL. 

there  are  those  who,  though  judged  by  the  law  of 
duty,  have  come  short,  are  yet  admired,  by  their 
Redeemer,  because  they  have,  out  of  great  confi- 
dence in  him  and  great  gratitude  to  him,  made 
it  their  pleasure  to  serve  him.  And  have  we 
not  ourselves  met  with  those  whose  Christian 
character  seemed  so  true,  that  we  could  not  help 
thinking  that  they  mnst  be  dear  to  the  Master 
also  ?  If  you  and  I  were  to  flatter  ourselves  that 
he  would  see  something  admirable  in  us,  that 
might  be  taken  possibly  as  pretty  certain  proof 
that  he  would  not.  But  it  is  not  quite  so  with 
respect  to  others.  Of  them,  it  is  not  presumption 
to  say,  they  shall  walk  in  white,  for  they  are 
worthy.  And  though  you  and  I,  amid  our  various 
imperfections,  must  prevailingly  be  afraid  that  our 
Saviour  marvels  at  our  slow  and  cold  faith  and  is 
amazed  that,  considering  all  he  has  done  for  us, 
and  is  doing  for  us,  our  defects  are  so  glaring;  yet 
may  there  not  be  moments  when  we  just  faintly, 
at  least,  think  that  there  were  and  are  those  whom 
he  actually  admires  ?  The  suggestion  that  after  all 
he  may  yet  see  something  in  us  which  will  make 
us  actually  welcome  in  his  presence,  cannot  fail  to 
give  a  cheer  and  an  incentive  to  us.  For  would  it 
not  be  a  pleasure,  deep  as  the  sea  of  glass  that  is 
before  the  throne,  to  receive,  not  merely  the  for- 


WHAT  MADE  CHRIST  MARVEL.  163 

giveness  of  our  sins,  but  the  admiring  acceptance  of 
our  Redeemer?  Wherefore,  I  may  close  with  the 
exhortation  of  the  disciple  whom.  Jesus  loved, 
"  And  now,  little  children,  abide  in  him  ;  that,  if 
he  shall  be  manifested,  we  may  have  boldness  and 
not  be  ashamed  before  him  at  his  coming." 


XI. 

GLOKIFYING  THE  OWNEE. 

*'^  And  ye  are  not  your  own  ;  for  ye  were  bought  with  a  price; 
glorify  God,  therefore,  in  your  body.'''' — 1  Cor.  vi :  19,  20. 

L^EW  words  have  occurred  more  frequently  in 
■^  religious  speech  than  the  word  glorify. 
Very  likely,  it  is  less  used  now-a-days.  One  who 
should  employ  it  often  might  be  regarded  as  old- 
fashioned.  It  must  often  have  been  used  with  a 
vague  impression  as  to  its  meaning.  Yet  our 
religious  thought  would  be  impoverished  without 
it.  But  it  needs  to  be  set  in  connection  with  some 
grand  and  thorough  thought  of  God  and  of  our 
relation  to  him.  It  is  set  in  such  connection  in 
our  text.  For  the  apostle  reasons  from  two  great 
fundamental  facts.  (1)  By  our  very  existence  as 
dependent  beings,  we  are  not  our  own  ;  (2)  by  the 
love  wherewith  God  has  loved  us  in  the  gift  of  his 
son,  we  have  been  bought  with  a  price.  Surely, 
if  these  two  facts  are  clear  in  our  mind,  then  the 
conclusion  drawn  by  Paul  here,  must  have  some 
fresh  force  with  us  ;  *'  therefore  glorify  God." 


166  GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER. 

For  it  may  fairly  be  presumed  that  the  owner  of 
anything,  especially,  if  he  be  the  designer  and 
maker,  and  have  pub  his  loving  thought  into  it, 
will  be  the  best  judge  of  the  use  of  it.  We  may 
take  for  granted,  also,  that  when  his  thought  about 
it  is  most  fully  carried  out,  the  thing  owned  will 
appear  to  greatest  advantage.  This  may  not 
always  be  so  among  men.  The  man  who  happens 
to  be  the  owner  of  a  piece  of  land  or  of  any  work 
of  art,  sometimes  is  ignorant,  devoid  of  taste  or 
skill.  His  land  would  be  much  better  improved, 
if  he  would  allow  his  neighbor  to  cultivate  it ;  his 
machine  would  work  more  efficiently  if  other 
hands  than  his  own  worked  it.  That  is  because  so 
much  of  human  proprietorship  is  accidental.  But 
other  things  being  equal,  we  may  suppose  the 
owner's  or  inventor's  ideas  respecting  the  use  of 
what  is  his  own  will  be  better  than  those  of  any 
one  else.  It  is  reasonable  to  think  if  we  have 
seen  a  genius  like  Edison,  spending  for  years  his 
best  thought  on  the  apparatus  for  furnishing  light 
by  electricity,  experimenting  patiently,  and  per- 
fecting his  work ;  it  is  reasonable  to  think  that  the 
more  nearly  the  apparatus  is  handled  according  to 
his  directions,  the  greater  will  be  the  success. 
Sometimes,  we  know,  an  invention  does  not  suc- 
ceed  at  first  for  the  very  reason  that  those  who 


MCrNIVERSITT) 

GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER.  167 

are  trying  it,  try  to  run  it  after  their  own  notions 
rather  than  according  to  the  plans  of  the  inventor. 

Suppose  now  the  case  where  the  ownership  is 
divine,  where  the  designer  is  God.  In  this  case, 
we  need  not  say  that  the  thing  owned  will  probably 
work  best,  if  worked  according  to  the  divine  thought. 
There  are  no  limitations  here.  We  know  that 
his  thought  is  the  best.  "  As  for  God,  his  way  is 
perfect."  It  follows,  therefore,  that  when  the 
designs  of  God  are  realized  in  the  conduct  of  any 
work  of  his  hands,  the  result  will  be  glorious. 
There  have  been  sculptors,  whose  conceptions 
were  such  that  all  men  knew  that,  if  those  concep- 
tions were  wrought  out  in  marble,  the  world  would 
admire  not  only  the  marble,  but  the  artist  also. 
All  that  was  necessary  in  order  to  bring  the  artist 
fame,  was  to  put  his  thought  into  stone.  All  that  is 
necessary  to  bring  glory  to  the  owner  of  this  uni- 
verse is  for  men  to  use  it  according  to  the  divine 
plan. 

It  has  been  said,  I  know,  by  some  one,  that  in 
our  day  the  heaven  and  earth  do  not  declare  the 
glory  of  God  ;  they  declare  rather  the  glory  of  the 
great  discoverers  and  inventors.  The  telegraph 
glorifies  Morse,  the  steam-engine,  Watt  or  Stephen- 
son ;  in  the  halls  of  the  sciences,  much  of  the 
admiration  which  is  paid  goes  as  incense  to  the 


168  GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER. 

memory  of  a  Newton,  a  Faraday,  an  Agassiz  or  a 
Darwin.  Honor  be  to  all  to  whom  it  is  due.  But 
some  of  the  noblest  inventors  and  discoverers  have 
felt  that  all  which  they  have  done  has  been  only 
to  find  the  truth  in  the  works  of  God.  The  great- 
est glory  that  has  come  from  their  efforts  has  been 
the  disclosure  of  the  marvellous  treasures  with 
which  the  Creator  has  filled  the  world.  The 
astronomer  Kepler,  who  ascertained  the  laws 
which  pertain  to  the  motions  of  the  planets,  had 
no  idea  that  what  he  had  done  in  the  matter  was 
the  special  occasion  for  praise.  His  reverent  and 
suggestive  language  has  been  repeated  again  and 
again,  and  deserves  to  be  repeated.  "O,  God,  I 
think  thy  thoughts  after  thee!''  One  who  is 
familiar  with  men  engaged  in  scientific  researches, 
is  reminded  of  how  sensitive  they  often  are  as  to  the 
question  of  priority  of  observation.  The  one  who 
notices  any  phenomenon  first,  or  proposes  any  solu- 
tion first,  is  anxious  to  have  the  credit  of  it.  A  few 
da;ys  or  even  minutes  of  anticipation  might  estab- 
lish his  fame  among  his  contemporaries  and  in  the 
history  of  the  sciences.  But  no  man,  who  really 
deserves  such  credit,  thinks  that  the  true  glory  of 
discovery  centers  in  himself.  The  grand  thing 
is  that  one  more  truth  of  the  creation  has  been 
brought  to  light.     His  glass  has  made  visible  one 


GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER.  169 

more  star  in  the  heavens,  and  that  star  glorifies  the 
author  of  nature,  rather  than  him  who  has  only 
observed  it. 

All  the  research  and  art,  therefore,  of  our  time 
only  emphasize  and  illustrate  the  fact  that, there 
are  inexhaustible  depths  of  beauty  and  utility  in 
every  product  of  God's  mind.  Whoever  searches 
those  depths  and  brings  anything  there  to  light, 
so  far  forth,  discloses  God's  glory.  He  may  not 
intend  it.  He  may  even  deny  the  existence  of 
the  Creator.  Still  he  cannot  help  showing  some- 
thing more  of  the  divine  excellence.  Why,  sup- 
pose there  has  been  a  barren  spot  before  your 
door ;  you  cultivate  it ;  put  into  it  choice  seeds  ; 
it  will  soon  be  a  bed  of  flowers.  Every  time  you 
look  at  it,  you  may  see  only  your  own  cultivation, 
your  spade,  your  hoe,  your  rake,  your  taste  :  but 
you  have  really  only  revealed  to  some  devout  mind 
the  beauty  of  the  being  whom  you  yourself  have 
forgotten.  We  cannot  make  anything  that  is 
really  beautiful,  we  cannot  be  really  true  and 
genuine  in  our  studies  and  our  daily  work, 
without  increasing  thereby  the  visible  glory  of 
the  earth,  and  so,  the  glory  of  him  who  made  the 
earth. 

Joseph  Paxton  was  at  first  only  the  gardener  of 
the  Dake  of  Devonshire.    But  when,  in  1851,  the 


170  GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER. 

first  Crystal  Palace  arose  in  its  symmetry  before 
an  admiring  world,  it  made  his  fame.  He  became 
noble  in  men's  eyes  before  the  Queen  gave  him 
the  title  of  a  knight.  But  it  has  been  said  that  the 
idea  of  the  Crystal  Palace  was  suggested  to  his 
mind  in  part  by  observing  the  wonderful  pro- 
vision made  for  bearing  up  the  very  broad  leaf 
of  a  lily  which  had  been  brought  from  the 
marshes  of  Guiana  and  which  he  had  trained 
in  his  conservatories.  That  regal  lily  with  its 
slender  stem  upholding  its  broad  leaf,  that  palace 
of  industry  suggested  by  the  lily,  with  its  slen- 
der iron  columns  sustaining  the  broad  roof,  and 
the  patient,  observing  gardener,  who  took  the  hint 
from  the  lily  and  erected  the  palace,  all  made  the 
name  of  the  creator  more  excellent  to  thoughtful 
minds. 

It  is  plain,  theu,  that  whenever  any  of  us 
use  our  bodies  and  our  minds,  our  whole  selves, 
after  the  plan  o{  the  Heavenly  One,  and  just  so  far 
as  we  do  so,  we  make  his  worth  to  appear.  For 
a  man,  perfectly  answering  all  the  ends  con- 
templated in  the  mind  of  the  Creator,  would  be 
more  beautiful  than  a  lily,  grander  than  the 
noblest  temple  which  has  ever  been  built  upon 
the  earth.     For  if  we  would  take  the  word  honest 


GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER.  171 

in  a  large  sense,  the  line  of  the  poet  so  often 
quoted  is  true: 

"  An  honest  man  is  the  noblest  work  of  God." 

If  we  were  to  conceive,  therefore,  of  an  entire  race 
of  men,  who  were  answering  the  divine  ideas  in 
their  life  as  fully  as  the  bee  answers  it  in  building 
and  storing  its  cell,  who  were  observant  of  all 
known,  and  studious  of  all  unknown  laws,  in  body 
and  mind,  in  nature  and  in  society,  it  were  easy  to 
see  that  such  people  would  reflect  honor  on  their 
maker.  It  would  be  hardly  necessary  for  them  to 
hold  praise-services  in  order  to  show  that  honor. 
Their  rightly  ordered  conversation  would  be 
itself  a  perpetual  anthem. 

But  suppose,  on  the  contrary,  what  we  know  to 
be  the  real  condition  of  the  world,  that  sin  has 
entered  and  deranged  the  course  of  human  charac- 
ter and  life.  The  laws  of  the  body,  of  soul  and 
of  spirit,  have  been  violated  or  grossly  neglected. 
As  a  consequence,  it  has  become  difficult  to  know 
what  these  laws  really  are.  The  whole  head  of 
humanity  is  sick  and  its  whole  heart  faint.  The 
rules  of  health  are  not  the  regimes  of  sickness. 
At  least,  they  are  not  a  sufficient  remedy.  Besides, 
the  very  disposition  to  return  to  them  is  wanting. 
But  even  in  a  sinful  world,  God  is   still  owner. 


172  GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER. 

He  still  has  plans  for  the  highest  good  of  his 
creatures.  Only,  now  these  must  be  plans  of  resto- 
ration, not  merely  of  construction.  The  process 
can  not  be  as  if  the  house  were  to  be  built  new 
from  the  foundation.  The  original  design  having 
been  perverted,  what  remains  is  to  reconstruct. 

But,  as  it  is  the  Divine  owner  who  is  to  recon- 
struct, we  may  expect  that  there  will  be  depths  of 
divine  glory  in  the  redeeming,  as  there  were  in  the 
creative  plan.  God  will  put  into  the  new  creation 
a  wonder  which  surpasses  all  that  is  in  the  old.  He 
will  put  in  all  the  wealth  of  his  own  perfections. 
A  love,  passing  knowledge,  will  be  given  without 
stint  or  measure.  The  only  beloved  son  himself 
will  at  personal  cost  enter  into  humanity.  He 
will  glorify  the  Father,  as  no  marvel  of  the  ocean, 
or  the  stars,  or  of  human  history  had  glorified  him. 
One  greater  than  the  temple  will  walk  in  the 
streets  of  earth.  One  fairer  than  any  of  the  sons 
of  men  will  task  himself  to  prepare  for  us  what 
neither  eye  had  seen  nor  ear  heard,  neither  had 
it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive. 

It  might  be  expected,  then,  that  whoever  should 
carry  out  the  idea  of  the  Redeemer  in  his  body, 
would  glorify  God  in  a  most  signal  degree.  This 
expectation  has  been  realized.  Let  us  suppose 
that  Saul  of  Tarsus,  now  an  intense,  zealous  and 


GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER.  173 

persecuting  Jew,  becomes  convinced  that  lie  has 
been  bought  from  his  unrighteous  harshness  and 
narrowness  by  the  love  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  that 
God's  plan  for  him  is  that  henceforth  he  should 
live  not  to  himself,  but  to  him  who  died  for  him 
and  rose  again.  Does  any  one  doubt  whether  the 
transformation  in  Paul  will  be  glorious  ?  We 
know  it  was,  for  it  made  such  an  impression  on 
mankind  that  millions  of  people  in  every  century 
since  have  been  kindled  to  enthusiasm  at  the  men- 
tion of  his  name.  Does  any  one  doubt  whether 
the  God  whom  St.  Paul  preached  in  the  great 
cities  of  the  Roman  world  did  not,  ever  after,  seem 
more  glorious  to  the  men  and  women  there  than 
ever  they  had  dreamed  any  divine  name  could  be 
before  ?  Men  did  not  have  to  construct  an  argu- 
ment. They  spontaneously  inferred  that  the  Being 
who  had  redeemed  Paul  must  be  one  to  love  and 
adore. 

What  took  place  in  this  one  case  has  taken  place, 
we  might  say  without  extravagance,  every  hour  of 
these  eighteen  centuries  somewhere  on  the  earth. 
Men,  who  were  far  from  wiiat  they  ought  to  have 
been,  have  seen  and  adopted  the  plan  of  their  resto- 
ration, which  has  been  written  down  in  the  New 
Testament.  Then  a  restoration  has  commenced ; 
it  may  have  been  rapid  or  slow,  but  it  has  been 


174  GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER. 

fair  to  see,  as  its  walls  rose  so  as  to  be  seen  by 
men.  I  know  how  easy  it  is  to  find  defects  in  all 
human  beings.  People  go  far  to  see  St.  Peter's  at 
Rome.  There  are  serious  defects  in  that  structure ; 
so  serious,  that  critics  have  spoken  of  it  with  the 
most  severe  depreciation.  Yet,  there  is  something 
about  the  grandeur  of  the  idea  in  it,  and  not  a  little 
in  many  of  the  details,  which  compels  admiration. 
So  it  is  with  Christian  character.  It  is  easy  to  pick 
flaws  in  it.  One  need  not  be  an  expert  to  do  that. 
But  after  all,  it  is  the  most  admirable  treasure  that 
human  history  shows.  However  much  the  Balaams 
may  jest  about  it,  or  curse  it,  there  are  few  of  them 
who  do  not,  sooner  or  later,  say.  Let  me  die  the 
death  of  the  righteous  and  my  last  end  be  like 
his  !  How  natural  it  was  for  the  Hebrews  to  define 
the  Being  whom  they  worshipped  as  the  God  of 
Abraham  and  of  Isaac  and  of  Jacob  !  So,  one  who 
has  rejoiced  in  a  father,  mother,  sister,  friend, 
whose  redeemed  life  remains  as  his  holiest  memory, 
will  find  himself  forming  many  of  his  thoughts  of 
God  by  help  of  such  association.  God  is  best 
realized  to  his  mind  as  the  God  of  his  mother  or 
his  revered  friend.  I  often  recur  to  those,  in  recol- 
lection of  whom  I  can  say.  How  excellent,  my  most 
true  and  tried  friend,  did  your  God  seem  to  me  ; 
so  that  I  felt  constrained,  years   ago,  to   say,  as 


GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER.  175 

Euth  to  Naomi,  "  Thy  people  shall  be  my  people 
and  thy  God  my  God."  Little  did  you  think  you 
were  glorifying  God  in  my  eyes.  But  it  was  so. 
In  what  he  wrought  in  you,  I  beheld  the  beauty  of 
his  holiness.  If  I  should  lose  the  sense  of  the 
divine  excellence  in  my  own  experience,  or  if  I 
should  miss  the  clue  in  the  mazes  of  the  strange 
world  I  live  in,  I  could  not  for  a  moment  cease  to 
admire  the  God  who  was  made  known  to  me,  in  his 
grace  and  truth,  by  the  heart  and  life  of  some  of 
those  redeemed  ones  whom  I  have  known. 

If  I  have  made  my  course  of  thought  clear,  I  have 
shown  what  it  is  for  one  who  is  not  his  own  to 
glorify  his  Maker  and  Kedeemer.  It  is  by  the 
honest  decision  on  his  part  to  carry  out,  so  far  as 
he  knows,  the  plan  of  God.  Of  course,  we,  all  of 
us,  are  likely  to  have  some  petty  purpose  which 
may  seem  to  suit  us  better.  We  may  conclude 
that  we  will  do  what  we  have  to  do  in  our  own 
way.  Even  so,  we  may,  as  I  have  shown,  despite 
ourselves,  contribute  in  some  degree  to  the  glory 
of  God.  We  may  make  some  spot  of  earth  or 
some  home  dearer,  or  disclose  some  truth  which 
will  stir  some  other  heart  to  his  advantage.  But 
this  is  a  very  imperfect  realization  of  the  precept 
in  our  text.  We  need  to  say,  and  without  any 
reservation,   to  God,  I  am  not    my   own ;    I  am 


176  GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER. 

bought  with  a  price ;  what  wouldst  thou  that  I 
should  do  in  the  world  ?  We  need  to  open  our 
eyes,  too,  and  read  what  is  made  known  to  us  in 
the  Divine  Providence  and  in  the  Bible,  and  by 
the  Spirit  of  God  within  us.  And  our  theme 
assures  us  that  if  we  do  thus  in  our  hearts  purpose 
to  carry  out  the  Divine  idea  for  us,  we  shall 
surely  do  something  which  will  adorn  the  doctrine, 
and  we  shall  make  our  Heavenly  Father  seem 
holier  and  dearer  to  some  of  those  who  journey 
with  us,  or  are  to  follow  after  us. 

We  see,  also,  that  glorifying  God  is  not  accom- 
plished by.  the  mere  language  or  feeling  of  praise. 
The  Psalmist  does  indeed  say,  "  Whoso  offereth 
praise  glorifieth  me  ;"  and  that  is  true,  but  he  adds, 
"And  to  him  that  ordereth  his  conversation 
aright  will  I  show  the  salvation  of  God."  The 
builder  of  a  temple  does  not  glorify  the  architect 
simply  by  uttering  compliments  of  him  to  the 
visitors  or  showing  them  the  fine  drawings,  nor 
by  certain  sentiments  of  admiration  which  he 
expresses  toward  the  architect  himself.  But  if  he 
will  take  the  drawings  and  possess  his  mind  with 
them  and  put  them  into  stone,  the  result  will  con- 
fer the  greatest  possible  honor. 

We  see,  also,  that  obedience  to  God,  the  putting 
of  our  life  into  his  direction,  is  not,  as  might  be 


GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER.  177 

supposed  by  some,  a  hard,  ungraceful  thing  to  do. 
The  landscape  gardener  may  sometimes  appear  to 
his  men  to  be  very  particular  in  his  directions  ; 
they  may  be  tempted  to  imagine  that  he  ordered 
them  to  do  so  and  so  just  because  he  loved  to  be 
obeyed.  But  let  it  be  supposed  Ihat  his  plans  are 
ideally  the  best  aud  that  deviations  from  them  will 
be  sure  to  make  blemishes  in  the  landscape,  then 
compliance  is  excellence,  the  exact  following  of 
the  lines  drawn  for  us  a  following  of  the  curve  of 
perfect  grace.  They  who  think  that  obedience  is 
required  because  God  wishes  to  assert  authority, 
do  not  seem  to  know  what  kind  of  a  being  God  is. 
Yielding  our  plan  of  life  to  his  is  simply  reaching 
out  after  perfection. 

We  may  likewise  look  at  the  tone  of  insistance, 
which  is  employed  in  the  Gospel,  in  its  true  light. 
That  should  not  surprise  us.  For  his  plans  are 
now  for  the  restoration  of  that  which  we  have 
already  ruined  or  are  now  in  process  of  ruining. 
They  have  involved  a  costly  price.  If  it  were  now 
possible  for  us  to  repair  the  damage  already 
incurred,  if  our  moral  beauty  could  be  restored  by 
any  scheme  of  our  own  devising,  God  would  not 
stand  on  his  position  or  dignity.  But  the  long  his- 
tory of  our  race  has  shown  how  fruitless  the 
attempts  of  men  for  salvation  have  been.     There- 


178  GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER. 

fore  the  owner  and  Kedeemer  does  insist,  a^  a 
physician,  called  in  straits  of  life  and  death,  insists 
that  his  prescription  be  followed  without  vari- 
ation. If  it  were  only  his  own  will  or  reputation 
which  was  in  his  mind,  he  might  leave  the  matter 
to  the  patient's  own  choice.  So  here  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  captive  soul  depends  upon  the  price 
with  which  he  has  been  bought.  Let  him  play 
fast  and  loose  with  the  saving  plan  of  his  owner, 
and  there  is  no  other  price  that  can  avail  for  him. 

It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  our  own  glory  and  the 
glory  of  the  world  that  now  is,  as  well  as  of  that 
which  is  to  come,  is  bound  up  with  the  voluntary 
conformity  of  our  plan  of  life  to  that  which  is 
made  known  ic  the  Gospel.  As  long  as  we  act 
at  cross  purposes  with  the  Divine  claims,  things 
here  and  hereafter  will  certainly  work  against  us. 
But  as  soon  as  we  quit  the  policy  of  self-owner- 
ship and  fall  into  line  with  him  who  bought  us 
with  a  price,  we  shall  begin  to  have  the  anticipa- 
tion of  that  which  is  symbolized  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  that  heavenly  city  concerning  which  it  is 
said,  "The  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it  and  the 
Lamb  is  the  light  thereof." 

It  follows,  finally,  that  the  conception  we  have 
been  considering  makes  the  lowliest  life,  which  is 
really   lived  in  the  spirit  of  harmony  with  God, 


GLORIFYING   THE  OWNER.  179 

worth  living.  I  know  how  imperfect  we  often 
seem  to  those  who  look  on.  I  know  how  painfully 
we  often  sigh  because  what  we  are  doing  seems  so 
poor  to  ourselves.  It  shames  us.  In  so  many 
cases,  too,  a  blight  comes  into  men's  best  endeav- 
ors. The  world  goes  against  them.  They  are 
misunderstood,  thwarted,  and  life  seems  a  failure. 
Can  mere  submission  and  perseverance  in  well 
doing,  in  such  conditions,  bring  any  glory  to  God? 
They  can.  How  beautiful  and  comforting  for 
such  is  that  picture  which  is  drawn  of  the  blind 
spinner : 

"  Like  a  blind  spinner  in  the  sun 
I  tread  my  days, 
I  know  that  all  the  threads  will  run 

Appointed  ways ; 
I  know  each  day  will  bring  its  task, 
And,  being  blind,  no  more  I  ask. 

I  know  not  why,  but  I  am  sure 

That  tint  and  place, 
In  some  great  fabric  to  endure 

Past  time  and  race, 
My  threads  will  have." 

Ah,  yes,  all  work  that  is  done  in  harmony  with  the 
Divine,  will  take  on  by  and  by  the  form  of  the 
finished  web ;  the  threads  we  weave  in  this 
common  life   will   have   tint  and   place   in   some 


180  GLORIFYING  THE  OWNER. 

great  fabric,  some  cloth  of  gold,  that  shall  cover 
the  steps  of  the  heavenly  throne.  For  it  is  not 
true  religion  that  leaves  life  a  drudgery  ;  it  ideal- 
izes our  common  existence  and  work.  It  says,  as 
St.  Paul  said  even  to  the  slaves  of  his  time  :  adorn 
the  doctrine ;  you  have  something  higher  to  live 
for  than  even  your  own  good  ;  you  may  even 
glorify  God,  making  the  very  world  that  he  has 
made  richer,  fuller,  fairer,  because  you  have  lived 
in  it. 


XII. 
CALLED  BY   HER  OWN  NAME. 

"  Jesus  saith  unto  her.  Woman,  lohy  weepest  thou?  Whom  seekest 
thou?  She,  supposing  him  to  be  the  gardener,  saith  unto  him.  Sir, 
if  thou  hast  borne  him,  hence,  tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him, 
and  I  will  take  him  away.  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Mary.  She  turned 
herself  and  saith  unto  him,  Babboni,  which  is  to  say.  Master.'''' 

—John  20 :  15, 16. 

WHAT  a  difference  it  made  with  Mary 
whether  she  was  addressed  by  the  com- 
mon name,  woman,  or  by  the  individual  name, 
Mary !  When  she  heard  herself  called  woman, 
she  supposed  it  was  the  gardener,  some  unknown 
keeper  of  the  grounds,  and  the  speaker  had  only 
the  interest  for  her  which  any  guide-board  would 
have.  But  the  instant  she  heard  herself  called 
Mary,  all  her  nature  was  moved  to  its  depths 
and  uttered  itself  in  the  one  word  of  recognition, 
reverence  and  affection,  Rabboni. 

A  similar  difference  it  must  make  with  us  all, 
according  as  we  conceive  our  Lord  addressing 
us,  following  us,  caring  for  us,  as  if  he  knew  us 
by  name,  or  knew  us  simply  as  one  of  a  multitude. 


182  CALLED  BY  HER  OWN  NAME. 

I  cannot  hesitate  to  think  and  teach  that  the 
former  is  eminently  the  Biblical  conception ; 
that  with  respect  to  us  all  who  are  here  this 
morning,  our  Lord  knows  us,  not  merely  as 
members  of  the  human  race,  but  as  individuals 
whom  he  can  name.  When  you  are  told,  therefore, 
that  he  is  speaking  to  you  in  his  Word  to-day, 
do  not  think  he  is  saying,  man,  woman,  boy, 
girl,  but  rather,  William,  Mary  ;  he  has  personally 
to  do  with  each  of  us. 

Let  it  be  granted  that  there  are  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  his  conception. 

We  think,  perhaps,  that  the  Saviour  might 
have  had  his  peculiar  interest  in  Mary  Magdalene, 
because  he  did  know  her  as  one  neighbor  knows 
another  ;  or  even  in  a  goodly  number  of  those 
whom  he  chose  as  his  companions  when  he  was 
in  Capernaum  or  Nazareth ;  bat  now  that  the 
company  of  his  disciples  has  swollen  to  millions, 
in  all  lands,  in  many  languages,  of  various  races, 
we  are  extremely  prone  to  think  that  this 
acquaintance  by  name  is  impossible,  or  at  least 
extremely  improbable.  Very  few  of  the  people 
of  the  world  do  we  recognize.  We  see  the  masses 
along  the  streets,  or  pouring  on  and  ofp  cars  or 
boats,  but  we  do  not  presume  to  nod  our  heads 
to  one  of  a  hundred,  or  a  thousand.     If  we  love 


CALLED  BY  HER   OWN  NAME.  183 

the  church,  as  we  do  so  often  sing,  "I  love  thy 
church,  O  God,"  yet  it  is  as  a  whole,  not  as  so 
many  particular  persons.  Its  individuals  are 
lost  in  the  multitude,  as  the  separate  grains  of 
wheat  are  lost  in  the  vast  number  of  grains  that 
go  to  make  up  the«great  harvest  of  the  world- 
Does  the  shipping  merchant  have  any  interest 
in  any  one  kernel  ?  So  they  fill  his  contract, 
what  matter  to  him  their  single  history  ?  So  the 
church  of  Christ  we  may  not  hesitate  to  regard 
as  a  matter  of  concern  to  him.  But  it  concerns 
him,  we  judge,  as  an  army  is  cherished  by  its 
commander.  When  we  read,  as  very  likely  we 
have  read,  of  a  Napoleon  stopping  by  the  road 
side  to  inquire  of  some  ordinary  laborer,  Were 
you  not  with  me  in  Egypt  ?  Did  you  not  belong 
to  the  Army  of  the  Nile  ?  We  feel  sure  that 
such  must  have  been  an  exceptional  case,  even 
with  that  marvellous  commander  of  men.  The 
great  multitudes  must  have  marched  and  died 
unknown.  Christ  may  love  his  church,  but  not 
its  members. 

Moreover,  we  fall  to  thinking,  and  not  merely 
to  thinking,  but  feeling,  how  inconspicuous, 
obscure,  disagreeable  even,  we,  George,  Elizabeth, 
are.  A  small  portion  of  us  make  any  mark  in 
our  time.     You  need  not  suppose,  said  a  mirth- 


184  CALLED  BY  HER  OWN  NAME. 

some  friend,  that  you  are  the  greatest  man  in 
your  city,  for  I  inquired  of  a  citizen,  who  has 
lived  there  several  years,  and  he  said  he  had 
never  heard  of  such  a  person.  No,  indeed,  how 
very  small  the  circle  which  most  of  us  fill.  The 
mark,  too,  which  some  make  fades  out  so  soon. 
I  note  often  the  death  of  men,  without  whom  in 
my  boyhood  it  were  difficult  to  see  how  the  world, 
or  some  most  important  affairs  of  the  world, 
could  prosper.  Those  men  filled  the  public  eye. 
What  they  said  and  did,  or  wrote,  made  a  chief 
part  of  the  current  history.  But  they  have  for 
years  been  retired  and  unknown,  and  the  world 
has  moved  on  since  as  if  they  liad  never  lived. 
Go  back,  for  instance,  to  your  native  town.  You 
remember  some  person  there,  who  stood  promi- 
nent in  all  its  affairs  and  its  social  life.  He 
has  passed  away.  It  seems  almost  like  base 
ingratitude  for  everything  to  be  going  as  if 
there  had  been  no  loss.  In  presence  of  such 
contemplations,  tlje  individuality  even  of  the 
men  of  mark  appears  so  evanescent. 

"Like  the  snow-fall  in  the  river, 
A  moment  white,  then  melts  forever." 

But  the  eminent  people,  the  Mary  Magdalenes, 
the  Augustines,  the  Whitefields,  the  Edwardses, 
are  few.     The  mass  of  us  are  commonplace  and 


CALLED  BY  HER  OWN  NAME.  185 

uninteresting.  Some  of  us  may  possibly  feel 
this  sorely.  Nobody  cares  for  me  !  I  am  nobody. 
Why  should  I  be  so  conceited  as  to  hold  that 
Christ  knows  me  by  name,  or  has  any  such  interest 
as  that  would  imply  in  me  ? 

This  idea  may  seem  the  more  rashly  venture- 
some, again,  because  Christ  has  been  long  gone 
from  the  earth  which  once  he  "^.trod.  He  has 
passed  back,  we  say,  to  where  he  was  in  the  begin- 
ning with  God  ;  to  that  great  height  which  no 
man  approacheth  unto,  to  that  glory  which  is 
veiled  from  our  eyes ;  into  that  infinitude  which 
baffles  all  human  thought.  It  is  easy  to  think  of 
him  as  retired  from  these  small  and  close  connec- 
tions which  bind  you  and  me  with  one  another. 
Indeed,  thought  in  this  direction  tends,  at  first,  to 
eliminate  the  idea  of  personality  in  God  himself. 
So  we  fall  readily  into  those  trains  of  speculation, 
called  scientific,  according  to  which  God  himself 
is  only  another  name  for  nature,  matter  or  force. 
But  what  cares  gravitation  for  individuals  ?  Does 
heat  have  any  respect  for  persons  ?  Would  light- 
ning distinguish  Mary  Magdalene  from  any  other 
woman?  Nay,  does  Force  know  woman  or  man  as 
such?  Eather  we  perceive  that  these  great 
physical  energies  play  right  on,  whoever  or  what- 
ever comes  in  their  way,  asking  no  questions,  dis- 


186  CALLED  BY  HER  OWN  NAME. 

criminating  no  names,  regardless  of  consequences. 
A  being  so  highly  exalted  or  rather  so  indefinitely- 
removed,  it  is  not  hard  to  imagine  indifferent  to 
the  weal  or  woe  of  any  particular  person.  "  When 
I  consider  thy  heavens,  the  work  of  thy  fingers, 
the  moon  and  stars,  which  thou  hast  ordained ; 
what  is  man  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him  and  the 
son  of  man  that  thou  visitest  him  ?  "  That  ques- 
tion never  grows  less  to  the  reflective  mind.  The 
more  frequently  it  is  asked,  the  more  wonderful 
does  it  seem  that  there  should  be  one  made  higher 
than  the  heavens,  through  whom  the  heavens  them- 
selves were  made,  who  can  call  the  children  of 
men  by  their  names,  who  does  recognize  each  one 
of  us,  even  though  we  be  small  and  obscure,  from 
every  other. 

Precisely  because  this  conception  is  marvellous 
and  has  its  difficulties,  because  the  ordinary 
sinful  man  does  not  keep  it  in  his  faith,  was  the 
fact  revealed  to  us.  It  was  revealed  clearly, 
pointedly  and  with  rare  beauty.  The  identical 
conception  now  before  us  was  repeatedly  affirmed. 
Thus,  Jehovah  said  to  Moses,  "thou  hast  found 
grace  in  my  sight  and  I  know  thee  by  name."  Our 
Lord  also  compares  himself  to  the  good  shepherd, 
who  calleth  his  own  sheep  by  name.  That  we 
might  not  be  left  to  think  of  such  assurances  as 


CALLED  BY  HER  OWN  NAME.  187 

applicable  to  a  few  select  people,  he  has  left  on 
record  the  statement,  "Whosoever  shall  do  the 
will  of  my  Father  in  heaven,  the  same  is  my 
brother  and  sister  and  mother,"  and  the  prayer 
also,  "  Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them 
also  which  shall  believe  on  me  through  their 
word."  In  the  messages  to  the  seven  churches,  it 
is  declared  of  them  that  shall  overcome,  that  they 
shall  have,  each  one  of  them,  a  white  stone  and  in 
the  stone  a  new  name  written.  As  the  first  man 
showed  one  chief  characteristic  in  giving  names  to 
the  animals  in  the  garden  where  he  was  placed,  so 
our  Lord  exhibits  his  divine  humanity  in  giving 
names  to  his  people.  It  has  been,  you  know,  a 
very  general  custom  when  men  have  become  sons 
of  God  by  the  new  birth,  for  them  to  assume  some 
new  name.  So,  in  the  days  of  the  elder  covenant, 
it  was  said,  "  Thou  shalt  no  more  be  called  Abram, 
but  Abraham  thou  shalt  be  called."  "Thy  name 
shall  be  called  no  more  Jacob,  but  Israel."  Simon, 
likewise,  became  Peter,  and  is  better  known  by 
the  latter  than  by  the  former  appellatibn.  Saul, 
of  Tarsus,  became  the  St.  Paul  of  the  Christian 
church.  In  our  own  day,  not  to  mention  other 
examples,  when  the  Jew,  David  Mendel,  espoused 
Christ,  he  took  the  suggestive  and  beloved  name, 
Neander.     Indeed,  what  is  this  very  phrase,  the 


188  CALLED  BY  HER  OWN  NAME. 

Christian  name,  but  an  indication  of  the  fact  that 
when  anyone  is  baptized  into  Christ,  christened, 
he  takes  a  name,  his  own  individual  designation 
by  which  Christ,  as  well  as  his  intimate  friends, 
know  him?  We  all  very  well  understand,  too,  that 
by  as  much  as  we  come  to  know  each  other  inti- 
mately and  affectionately,  we  incline  to  use  the 
Christian  name.  Is  it  not  something  other  than  a 
fancy  to  suppose  that  our  Lord  prefers  to  think  of 
us  under  this,  the  more  familiar  word,  by  which 
father,  mother,  husband,  wife,  brother  and  sister 
callus?  For  it  has  been  happily  remarked  con- 
cerning the  verse  following  our  text,  in  which  Mary 
is  commissioned,  "Go  tell  my  brethren,"  he  was 
not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren.  Though  he  is 
ascending,  yet  it  is,  as  he  said,  to  my  Father  and 
your  Father.  He  does  not,  however  high  his 
ascent,  rise  out  of  the  heavenly  family,  or  above  the 
quick  recognition  that  obtains  in  that  household. 

Grant  that  there  are  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
keeping  this  Biblical  conception  in  the  intellect. 
But  the  difficulties  arise,  after  all,  more  from  the 
narrowness  than  from  any  largeness  in  our  thought. 
We  are  so  weak  that  we  cannot  hold  millions  of 
individuals  separately  in  our  consciousness.  We 
forget.  We  are  selfish,  too,  and  do  not  look  on  the 
things  of  others.    We  are  Pharisees  or  Levites,  and 


CALLED  BY  HER  OWN  NAME.  189 

cannot  recognize  the  neighbor.  We  are  affected 
by  the  sentiments  of  our  set  and  society,  and  do 
not  condescend  to  notice  those  with  whom  we  once 
were  familiar.  But  none  of  these  defects  limit 
our  Lord.*   His  love  is  wide  and  full. 

"  For  the  love  of  God  is  broader 
Than  the  measure  of  man's  mind." 

He  is  not  obliged  to  think  in  whole  numbers  from 
inability  to  hold  fractional  parts.  He  does  not 
have  to  speak  of  classes,  because  he  can  not  keep 
in  recollection  the  individuals  which  make  up  the 
class.  He  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary  with  any 
of  the  vast  company  for  whom  he  liveth  to  make 
intercession.  They  are  graven  upon  the  palms  of 
his  hands, 

Nor,  on  more  searching  thought,  should  the  con- 
templation of  his  greatness,  or  the  greatness  of 
the  universe,  burden  our  faith.  For  his  greatness 
is  not  only  telescopic,  but  microscopic  as  well. 
Were  we  but  the  ultimate  atoms  of  which  it 
pleases  our  science  to  build  the  worlds,  we  were 
not  beneath  his  notice.  They  are  all  numbered 
and  weighed,  as  chemistry  itself  testifies.  But  we 
are  of  more  value  than  many  atoms.  The  most 
obscure  man  is  not  unworthy  the  recognition  of 
him  who  died  to  save  him.    After  we  have  put  our 


190  CALLED  BY  HER  OWN  NAME, 

highest  estimation  upon  sun  and  moon  and  stars, 
and  have  learned  the  latest  marvels  of  nature,  we 
have  not  found  anything  so  remarkable  as  the  soul 
of  man.  The  mind  which  reads  the  universe  is 
more  richly  endowed  than  the  universe.  There- 
fore the  Bible,  which  abounds  in  vivid  descrip- 
tions of  the  glory  of  the  visible  world,  neverthe- 
less does  not  hesitate  to  represent  man  as  cared 
for  by  the  Creator.  What  can  surpass  the  pict- 
ures in  the  40th  of  Isaiah  ?  "  Who  hath  measured 
the  waters  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  and  meted 
out  heaven  with  the  span,  and  comprehended  the 
dust  of  the  earth  in  a  measure,  and  weighed  the 
mountains  in  scales,  and  the  hills  in  a  balance  ?  " 
"  He  sitteth  upon  the  circle  of  the  earth  and  the 
inhabitants  thereof  are  as  grasshoppers ;  that 
stretcheth  out  the  heavens  as  a  curtain  and  spread- 
eth  them  out  as  a  tent  to  dwell  in ;  he  hath 
created  these  things  on  high ;  he  bringeth  out 
their  host  by  numbers  ;  he  calleth  them  all  by 
names,  by  the  greatness  of  his  might,  for  that  he 
is  strong  in  power ;  not  one  faileth."  Yet  right  in 
the  presence  of  this  magnificent  conception  of  the 
Creator  and  the  Creation,  the  prophet  says  in 
words  as  sweet  as  any  in  human  speech  :  "  He 
shall  feed  his  flock  like  a  shepherd ;  he  shall 
gather  the  lambs  in  his  arm  and  shall  gently  lead 


CALLED  BY  HER   OWN  NAME.  191 

them  that  are  with  young."  No,  if  it  be  one  result 
of  some  slight  thinking  as  to  the  vastness  of  the 
universe,  to  wonder  if  its  maker  be  mindful  of  the 
sons  of  men,  that  is  only  a  partial,  immature 
result ;  the  final  and  ripe  fruit  is  to  confirm  the 
conviction  of  the  Psalmist:  "I  am  poor  and 
needy  ;  yet  the  Lord  thinketh  on  me." 

How  admirably  fitted  such  a  conviction  is  to  the 
actual  feelings,  to  the  very  constitution  of  men,  a 
very  little  reflection  will  persuade  us.  For  if 
there  be  one  thing  which  is  a  marked  and  uni- 
versal characteristic  of  the  human  family,  it  is 
this ;  each  one  of  us  is  an  individual.  We  are  not 
just  "he"  or  "she,"  "him"  or  "her."  We  are 
more  than  common  nouns,  man  or  woman,  boy  or 
girl.  The  observant  parent  is  amazed  at  the  dif- 
ferences he  notices  in  his  own  household.  The 
children  have  been  born  within  the  same  home, 
subjected  to  the  same  influences,  but  no  one  of 
them  is  the  copy  of  any  others.  Strangers  may 
remark  their  likeness ;  the  parent  remarks  their 
unlikeness.  People  who  meet  them  casually  on 
the  streets  mistake  one  for  the  other.  But  the 
mistake  is  never  agreeable  to  the  children.  You 
may  even  say.  Why,  these  twin  girls  are  as  much 
alike  as  two  peas.  But  treat  them,  as  if  it  were  of 
no  consequence,  which  was  which,  and  you  will 


192  CALLED  BY  HER  OWN  NAME. 

speedily  find  that  each  one  guards  and  prizes  her 
individuality.  She  does  not  at  all  like  to  have 
herself  merged  in  the  self  of  any  other  person. 

Of  course,  we  have  so  many  things  in  common, 
that  we  may  be  subjected  to  a  common  dealing 
and  discipline.  You  shall  gather,  as  in  the  city 
schools,  several  hundred  youths  together  and 
classify  them  by  grades.  Each  in  the  same 
grade  shall  have  the  same  task,  same  rules,  same 
rewards  and  punishments.  You  may  go  farther  ; 
you  may  know  each  scholar  by  his  number, 
1,  2,  3,  4.  You  may  ignore  what  is  peculiar  in 
each  one's  mind,  heart  and  history.  In  large 
establishments,  this  seems  to  be,  to  a  great  extent, 
necessary.  Indeed,  it  may  even  be  claimed  to  be 
desirable.  But  no  scholar  can  be  perfectly 
satisfied  so.  He  will  long  sometimes  to  be  treated 
according  to  his  own  special  nature.  The  perfect 
teacher,  too,  is  the  one  who  finds  out  his  pupil's 
individuality,  and  educates  that  as  well  as  the 
qualities  and  capacities  which  all  have  in  common. 

This  recognition  by  name — how  pleasant  it  is  ! 
I  remember  walking  once  in  a  crowded  railway 
station  in  company  with  a  friend,  several  years 
after  we  had  been  together  at  Phillips  Academy. 
My  friend  had  spent,  however,  but  a  single  term, 
and  that  in   a   subordinate    department    of    that 


CALLED   BY  HER  OWN  NAME.  193 

school.  The  principal,  happening  just  then  to  pass 
by,  stepped  up  at  once  to  his  former  pupil,  calling 
him  readily  by  his  name.  It  was  unexpected.  It 
was  very  grateful.  The  glow  of  gratified  feeling 
passed  quickly  into  my  friend's  face.  It  is  very 
pleasant  to  be  remembered,  to  know  that  some 
one  has  thought  enough  of  us  not  to  lose  our 
name.  I  observe  that  even  the  Chinamen  among 
us  have  a  natural  resentment  on  being  called 
John.  That  is  not  a  bad  name ;  it  was  that  of 
the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved.  But  they  much 
prefer  to  be  called  Gam  or  Gee,  or  Hung  or 
Wong. 

Now,  the  Biblical  doctrine  of  our  Lord's  interest 
in  each  of  his  disciples  harmonizes,  fully  and 
delightfully,  with  this  strong  and  marked  sense  of 
individuality.  Mary's  eyes  may  be  so  veiled  that 
she  does  not  recognize  him  ;  she  may  mistake  his 
voice  for  that  of  the  gardener  ;  but  he  discrimi- 
nates her  from  all  other  women  ;  he  distinguishes 
her  from  the  three  or  four  other  Marys  who  min- 
istered to  him.  How,  indeed,  could  we  think 
rightly  or  honorably  of  our  Lord's  perfection,  if 
we  supposed  him  to  blunder,  as  so  many  of  us  do, 
in  identifying  those  who  belong  to  his  kingdom. 
For  that  was  not  a  mere  witticism  which  one 
uttered  regarding  those  who  discuss  so  much  the 


194  CALLED  BY  HER  OWN  NAME. 

question,  whether  Christians  will  recognize  each 
other  in  heaven.  He  said  it  was  a  question  much 
nearer  home,  whether  they  recognized  each  other 
on  the  earth.  Surely  we  will  not  impute  our 
ways  to  our  Lord. 

The  thought,  now  presented,  will  come  with 
special  restfulness  at  certain  times.  Ordinarily, 
when  we  hear  our  names  called,  even  if  called  by 
those  whom  we  esteem  and  love,  it  gives  no  special 
thrill.  Jesus  had  called  Mary  before,  doubtless, 
when  the  word  was  only  a  passing  utterance  and 
left  no  impression.  But  to  hear  it  now  and  here 
was  ecstasy.  80,  when  far  from  home,  among 
strangers,  in  a  foreign  land,  in  solitude,  sickness 
or  danger,  to  be  accosted  by  our  own  name  might 
bring  a  wonderful  joy.  But  we  are  all  likely  to  be 
put  in  circumstances,  in  which  we  shall  crave 
recognition.  The  world  will  go  against  us ; 
friends  leave  us  ;  temptation  assail  us  ;  disappoint- 
ment and  loss  set  in  upon  us;  doubt  harass 
our  steps ;  we  may  be  ready  to  exclaim  no  man 
careth  for  us.  Then,  if  we  can  bring  back  this 
admirable  faith,  the  place  where  we  would  fain 
weep  shall  be  filled  with  the  presence  and  comfort 
of  the  risen  Lord. 

One  path,  at  least,  which  we  must  all  pass,  is 
notably  illuminated   with   this  truth.     We   must 


CALLED   BY  HER  OWN  NAME.  195 

be  borne  hence  to  the  sepulchre.  This  fact,  when 
we  allow  it  fairly  to  come  into  our  mind,  puts  us 
apart  by  ourselves.  For  the  path  through  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  is  solitary.  We 
must  enter  and  pass  through  it  alone.  In  this 
new  experience,  shall  we  be  unnamed?  The 
graves  around  us  will  multiply  ;  but  they  will  be 
silent.  The  cities  of  the  dead  will  grow  populous. 
What  shall  we  be  among  so  many?  But  by  the 
grave's  side,  in  the  populous  region  beyond 
the  grave,  stands  he,  who  said  to  the  Magdalene, 
Mary ;  there  will  be  individuality  and  recog- 
nition there. 

Let  us,  then,  my  friends,  do  our  work,  whether 
it  be  great  or  small,  public  or  obscure,  under 
the  persuasion  that,  whatever  it  is,  it  will  be 
noticed  as  ours  by  our  Lord.  The  Marys  are 
very  numerous,  but  they  are  not  confounded  with 
one  another.  One  Mary  may  get  credit  in  men's 
esteem  for  what  another  Mary  has  actually  done. 
The  two  records  are  not  jumbled  in  the  mind  of 
the  Master.  We  should  not,  then,  grow  careless, 
thinking  that  if  we  do  not  do  our  work  well, 
it  ■will  be  undistinguished  ;  that  it  will  only  go 
to  make  up  the  mass.  This  is  not  the  Christian 
conception  ;  it  is  not  the  truth.  What  you  and 
I  shall  do  will  be  known  as  your  and  my  work. 


196  CALLED  BY  HER  OWN  NAME. 

The  two  mites  will  be  counted  to  the  poor  woman 
every  time. 

And  let  me  say,  also,  that  that  is  the  turning 
point  in  the  life  of  any  of  us,  when  we  feel  that 
the  Master  calls  us,  our  own  very  self,  by  name. 
It  might  startle  my  audience  if  I  should  mention 
the  name  of  some  one  here  and  say,  I  came  to 
preach  to  you.  In  large,  crowded  assemblies,  you 
have  heard  some  one  cry  out :  Is  such  a  person — 
uttering  aloud  the  full  name — Is  such  a  person  in 
the  house?  Here  is  a  telegram  for  her.  How 
that  person  arouses  herself  !  How  quickly 
thoughts,  hopes  and  fears  swell  in  her  heart !  So 
it  is  when  we  are  made  aware  that  we,  our  own 
self,  are  directly  addressed  by  some  divine  mes- 
sage. Thus  was  it  with  the  young  man  on  the 
road  to  Damascus,  when  he  heard  the  voice,  Saul, 
Saul.  The  message  came  to  his  address  and  he 
must  respond  to  it  in  person.  Here  is  the  prime 
trouble  with  many  of  us  in  the  hearing  of  the 
Word.  We  do  not  take  it  as  if  it  were  meant  for 
our  individual  self.  Whenever  we  do  take  it  so, 
the  Gospel  becomes  a  very  different  matter.  We 
see  a  great  many  letters  in  the  postman's  hands  as 
he  passes  our  door.  The  one  which  is  written  with 
our  name  is  the  one  which  has  meaning  and  power 
for  us.     Is  there  no  one  here  this  morning,  who 


CALLED  BY  HER  OWN  NAME.  197 

will  be  startled  because  it  seems  to  her  that  in  the 
worship  and  lesson  of  this  hour  she  hears  her 
own  name  ?  Is  there  no  one  who  will  be 
prompted,  as  never  before,  to  respond,  Rabboni, 
Master  ? 


"UNIVERSITY 


XIII. 
DISCIPLES  IN  A  CONTEAEY  WIND. 

"  And  when  even  was  come,  the  boat  was  in  the  midst  of  the 
sea  and  he  alone  on  the  land.  And  he  saw  them  distressed  in 
rowing,  for  the  wind  was  contrary  to  fftem."— Mark  6 :  47,  48. 

IT  was  not  an  uncommon  occurrence  for  boats 
crossing  Lake  Tiberias  to  encounter  a  con- 
trary wind.  Other  boats  may  have  been  caught 
in  the  same  way  on  this  same  evening.  The 
reason  why  our  attention  is  called  to  this  particu- 
lar boat  is  the  fact  that  some  disciples  of  Christ 
were  in  it.  How  will  these  men  behave  them- 
selves in  a  storm  ?  We  are  told  in  the  narrative 
that  their  Master,  who  was  on  the  land,  saw  them 
distressed  in  rowing.  Was  he  thinking  whether 
his  teaching  and  miracles  and  friendship  would 
make  any  difference  with  them  in  this  hour  of 
trial  and  danger  ?  The  darkness  and  the  tossing 
sea  would  make  the  same  impression  upon  their 
senses  that  the  darkness  and  tossing  sea  make 
upon  other  fishermen.     Why  should  he,  or  we,  be 


200  DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY  WIND. 

thinking  that  these  men  wpuld  conduct  themselves 
in  any  superior  spirit  ? 

Well,  it  may  fitly  be  remembered  that,  only  a 
few  hours  before,  these  disciples  had  seen  a  most 
astonishing  miracle.  In  their  own  hands,  as  they 
passed  through  orderly  companies  of  at  least 
five  thousand  people,  five  loaves  and  two  fishes 
had  multiplied  so  as  to  satisfy  this  large  number 
of  hungry  people.  They  had  witnessed  at  least 
a  dozen  other  miracles  hardly  less  extraordinary. 
On  this  very  sea,  when  the  waves  were  as  violent 
as  now,  they  had  beheld  their  Master  rise  out 
of  a  quiet  sleep  and  hush  the  sea  into  a  great 
calm.  Besides,  he  had  assured  them  that  they 
were  of  more  value  to  the  Euler  of  the  world 
than  many  sparrows.  He  had  taught  them  to 
pray  to  the  Heavenly  Father  with  a  filial  spii'it, 
in  simple,  direct  tones,  without  any  doubt  that 
their  petitions  would  be  heard.  He  had  invited 
them  to  become,  in  a  special  sense,  members  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  A  band  of  men,  thus 
favored,  enlightened  and  befriended  by  so  remark- 
able a  teacher,  might  be  expected  to  show  qualities 
of  character  superior  to  those  exhibited  by  the 
average  fishermen,  who  went  to  and  fro  on  the 
same  lake. 

We  may  then  inquire,  also,  if,  in  the  various 


DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY  WIND.  201 

distressing,  trying,  perplexing  and  annoying  cir- 
cumstances of  earthly  lot,  there  are  not  certain 
graces  of  spirit  which  may  be  expected  of  Chris- 
tians because  they  are  Christians.  The  Christian 
is  not  distinguished  from  other  men  by  not  having 
trouble,  but  by  a  certain  ability  to  bear  trouble 
or  to  get  good  out  of  it.  The  winds  do  not 
become  propitious  immediately  he  puts  to  sea, 
they  may  be  very,  sometimes,  it  might  almost 
appear,  exceptionally  contrary,  but  in  the  fury 
of  the  elements  he  may  have,  in  a  marked  degree, 
strength  and  cheer.  » 

Thus  there  belongs  to  the  disciple  of  Christ, 
patience.  Patience  is  the  ability  and  disposition 
to  bear  or  endure,  without  giving  way  or  breaking 
down.  Other  men  than  Christians  have  this 
quality.  They  bow  to  the  inevitable.  They  do 
not  fret  or  complain.  They  do  not  beat  their 
head  against  the  walls  which  imprison  them. 
Nor  do  they  wring  their  hands,  nor  mutter,  nor 
wail.  They  are  not  foolish  enough  to  kick  the 
stone  over  which  they  have  stumbled.  But  Chris- 
tian patience  is  higher  and  sweeter.  For  it  is 
inspired  not  by  any  doctrine  of  necessity  or  fate 
or  mere  law,  but  by  faith  in  the  Fatherly  Provi- 
dence, of  which  our  Lord  has  so  many  and  so 
beautiful  words  to  say — words  which  are  like  the 


202  DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY   WIND. 

lilies  of  the  field.  This  wind  is  very  contrary, 
but  it  blows  in  the  world  where  one  who  loves 
me  bears  sway.  I  acquiesce,  yea,  in  some  real 
sense,  I  am  content  in  the  state  to  which  I  am 
brought.  Dorothea  Trudel's  mother  was  severely 
tried.  The  family  was  poor,  and  the  shiftless 
father  wasted  what  substance  the  family  had. 
Even  a  clergyman  is  said  to  have  remonstrated 
with  the  daughter  because  the  abused  household 
did  not  have  the  father  brought  before  the  courts. 
Mother  never  complains,  replied  Dorothy,  and  so 
we  have  no  right  to  do  so.  She  says  that  nothing 
happens  in  this  world  except  by  God's  permission, 
and  that  we  are  to  look  upon  our  sorrows  as  God's 
will,  of  which  father  is  but  the  instrument. 
Whether  this  mother  judged  rightly  as  to  what 
course  it  was  best  to  pursue  in  her  difficulty,  is 
not  for  us  to  judge.  But  this  one  thing  was 
sweet  and  strong  and  wise,  her  patience.  This 
is  admirable  always.  The  heart  says :  this  lot 
is  plainly  assigned  me ;  I  will  stand  in  it ;  these 
are  the  conditions  in  which  I  am  appointed  to 
labor  ;  they  are  not  to  my  liking,  but  they  are, 
so  far  as  I  can  see,  the  will  of  God,  and  I  will 
do  my  best  in  them. 

Closely   related   to   the    grace    just    named    is 
humility.     Why   should   this   storm   be  breaking 


DISCIPLES  IN  A    CONTRAKY  WIND.  203 

on  US  ?  That  is  the  way  in  which  it  is  very 
common  to  greet  any  adversity.  What  have  I 
done  to  be  so  punished  ?  Others  are  having 
smooth  seas  ;  why  are  mine  so  disturbed  ? 
Some  not  as  good  as  I  are  rolling  in  wealth. 
Wh}^  am  I  poor  ?  But  the  Christian  habit  of 
thought  is  very  different.  That  leads  one  to 
wonder  rather  at  his  freedom  from  evil  than  at 
his  large  proportion  of  it.  For  he  knows  that 
his  ill-deserts  are  numerous.  "  He  hath  not  dealt 
with  us  according  to  our  sins  nor  rewarded  us 
according  to  our  iniquities."  Bad  as  our  lot  is, 
most  of  us  may  always  remember  that  our  lot 
is  far  more  favorable  than  that  of  millions. 
Besides,  the  Christian  recollects  that  he  follows 
a  Master,  who  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head, 
who  voluntarily  emptied  himself  of  glory  that  he 
might  share  the  humble  conditions  of  the  great 
majority  of  mankind.  Therefore,  the  exhorta- 
tion, "In  lowliness  of  mind  let  each  esteem 
others  better  than  themselves,"  springs  up  at 
once  in  the  Christian  thought.  I  know  very  Avell 
what  a  miserable,  and  even  ridiculous  thing 
humility  is  when  it  is  put  on,  or  when  it  is 
kept  for  show.  "Uriah  Heep"  and  the  "Prisoner 
of  the  Vatican"  are  not  exemplars  of  the  true 
grace.      But  genuine,  unaffected,   almost   uncon- 


204  DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY   WIND, 

scious  humility  in  time  of  trial  is  as  beautiful  a 
flower  as  grows. 

Yery  natural,  also,  is  the  transition  from  lowli- 
ness to  thankfulness.  This  might  even  be 
regarded  the  prime  test  of  a  Godly  man  in  for- 
lorn conditions.  Does  he  fall  to  counting  his 
favors  or  his  ill-fortunes,  can  he  turn  his  face  to 
his  heavenly  Father  and  abundantly  utter  the 
memory  of  his  great  goodness  ?  For  Christian 
piety  begins  with  praise.  The  old  hard  life  of 
insensibility  has  been  broken  up  by  the  conscious- 
ness of  God's  love  shed  abroad  in  the  heart.  A 
new  habit  of  mind  is  induced,  that  is  to  observe 
the  good  in  things  evil,  to  watch  the  indications 
which  our  life  affords  of  the  Divine  kindness.  It 
was  a  favorite  saying  of  Mary  Lyon,  he  who 
observes  providences  will  have  providences  to 
observe.  Most  true  is  it  that  he  whose  mind  is  set 
on  seeing  the  Divine  Love,  will  find  that  love 
revealing  itself  in  the  very  events  which  other 
minds  call  contrary  and  calamitous. 

So  will  spring  up,  likewise,  another  grace,  hope- 
fulness. For  it  is  an  express  teaching  of  the 
apostle  Paul  that  tribulation  worketh  patience,  and 
patience  hope.  He  also  declares  without  reserve 
that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them 
that  love   God.     Dr.  Howard   Crosby  once  said  : 


DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY   WIND.  *  205 

"Many  years  ago  I  was  in  a  wreck  on  the  Atlantic. 
The  night  w^as  dark  and  the  captain  held  out  no 
hope  of  our  reaching  land.  My  mother  led  me 
into  the  cabin  and  read  to  me  the  107th  Psalm. 
She  said,  "  Howard,  never  fear  ;  the  God  who 
wrote  that  psalm  is  with  us  in  this  cabin."  This 
strong  assurance  that,  whatever  happens,  it  will  be 
well  with  them  who  make  God  their  trust,  is  of 
the  very  essence  of  true  discipleship.  It  has 
passed  into  the  very  proverbs  and  common-places 
of  piety.  "  Man's  extremity  is  God's  opportunity." 
*'It  is  always  darkest  just  before  the  day."  Or  as 
the  Jews  have  said,  "  When  the  tale  of  bricks  is 
doubled,  then  Moses  comes."  Or,  as  the  little  boy 
in  South  Africa,  watching  the  little  stock  of  pro- 
visions rapidly  diminishing,  said,  "  When  mother 
scrapes  the  bottom  of  the  barrel,  the  Lord  is 
near."  Indeed,  what  is  there  so  characteristic  of 
true  religion  as  this  irrepressible  confidence  of 
ultimate  good  ?  How  it  speaks  out  in  the  prophets, 
*'0,  thou  afflicted,  tossed  with  tempest  and  not 
comforted  ;  behold  I  will  lay  thy  stones  with  fair 
colors  and  lay  thy  foundations  with  sapphires  ! " 
And  even  James,  practical  and  matter  of  fact  as  he 
is,  does  not  hesitate  to  say,  "  Count  it  all  joy  when 
ye  fall  into  divers  temptations."  For  the  tempta- 
tions will  only  give  the  Lord  .an  opportunity  to  do 


206  DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY  WIND. 

some  good  which  otherwise  were  impossible.  If 
the  wind  were  never  contrary,  the  Master  might 
never  be  seen  walking  on  the  sea. 

This  hopefulness  inspires  persistence  in  all 
worthy  endeavor.  However  distressed  we  may  be 
in  rowing,  we  are  encouraged  to  keep  on  rowing. 
It  is  of  the  nature  of  Christian  faith  to  laugh  at 
impossibilities.  Whatever  the  apparent  difficulty 
may  be,  yet  the  disciple  of  Christ  knows  that  his 
labor  or  endurance  can  not  be  in  vain  in  such  a 
Lord.  Even  if  things  come  to  the  worst,  and  he 
is  obliged  to  sorrow  over  what  seem  to  be  the 
failure  and  loss  of  his  life,  yet  he  does  not  "sorrow 
as  others  which  have  no  hope." 

Still  another  grace,  which  shines  eminently  in  a 
Christian  who  has  passed  into  difficult  conditions, 
is  conscientiousness.  Almost  always,  when  men 
are  brought  into  straits,  there  is,  or  seems  to  be, 
a  way  of  relief,  if  one  will  only  break  his  word,  or 
resort  to  a  little  deception,  or  take  counsel  of  his 
passion  or  his  pride.  And  men  so  overtaken  will 
easily  excuse  themselves  for  dropping  down  from 
what  in  other  circumstances  would  be  regarded  as 
the  right  standard.  We  read  continually,  to  be 
sure,  of  people  having  the  Christian  profession, 
who  when  hard  pressed  by  misfortune,  or  to  avert 
failure,  have  not  proven  faithful,  but  the  contrary. 


DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY   WIND.  207 

Such  instances  are  spread  far  and  wide.  But  we 
are  not  told,  we  shall  never  be  told  here,  how 
many  men  there  are  who  have  sworn  to  their  own 
hurt  and  changed  not,  whose  Chi'istian  principle 
has  stood  firm,  just  in  those  extremities  in  which 
that  principle  was  most  severely  tried.  It  is  a 
crowning  grace  to  go  through  a  season  of  perplexity 
and  not  say  or  do  anything  which  violates  truth  or 
righteousness.  The  story  of  Joseph  has  an 
unceasing  charm,  because  it  reveals  this  trait  of 
conscientiousness  in  a  Hebrew  boy  far  from  home 
and  ancestral  restraints  and  sorely  tempted,  but  he 
cannot  sin  against  God.  The  story  of  Daniel  has 
iiardly  less,  perhaps  in  some  respects  a  still 
greater  charm,  for  it  exhibits  another  Hebrew 
youth  who  in  similar  emergencies  holds  on  his 
way,  loyal  to  his  convictions. 

But  I  mention  a  specially  superior  grace  which 
shines  in  troublous  experiences,  it  is  kindliness  of 
spirit  toward  our  fellow-men.  When  things  are 
going  badly  with  us,  we  are  very  apt  to  cast  about 
for  somebody  whom  we  can  accuse  or  blame.  Not 
a  few  of  our  embarrassments  are  owing  to  the  con- 
duct of  our  neighbors.  It  seems  to  give  a  special 
bitterness  to  some  unfortunate  persons  that  they  can 
ascribe  their  difficulties  to  members  of  the  church. 
That  so  many  people  should  owe  their  reverses  to 


2U8  DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY  WIND. 

this  source  is  both  a  great  compliment  and  a  great 
reproach  to  the  church.  It  is  a  great  compliment, 
because  if  integrity  were  not  expected  of  Chris- 
tian profession,  no  such  amount  of  trust  would 
ever  have  been  reposed  in  professed  disciples.  It 
is  a  great  reproach,  because  even  the  suspicion  of 
want  of  honesty  in  those  who  bear  the  holiest 
name  that  is  named,  undermines  the  foundations 
of  society.  If  anyone  thinks  his  ill-fortune  is 
owing  to  such  false  conduct,  he  is  very  prone  to 
feel  bitter  and  sour.  If  he  be  reasoned  with  and 
asked,  Do  you  well  to  give  way  to  such  feeling,  he 
is  apt  to  reply  with  some  indignation.  Yes,  I  do 
well ;  such  people  deserve  all  the  reproach  I  give 
them.  If  we  are  only  gentiles,  publicans  and  sin- 
ners, our  fellow-  gentiles  and  publicans  will  doubt- 
less keep  us  in  countenance  in  our  severe  judg- 
ments. But  if  we  are  Christians,  then  unless  the 
Gospel  law  is  just  what  we  may  please  to  make 
it,  the  great  grace  of  charity  must  come  in  and 
clarify  and  sweeten  the  feelings  we  cherish 
toward  those  who,  we  suppose,  have  injured  us. 
You  may  tell  me,  all  this  is  fine  to  preach,  but 
that  when  one  is  actually  suffering  from  the  acts 
of  others  it  is  not  easy  to  exercise  this  charity. 
I  answer,  I  am  not  speaking  as  if  it  were  as  easy 
to  manage  our  boat  in  a  contrary  wind,  but  of  how 


DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY  WIND.  209 

great  a  grace  it  is  to  be  able  to  manage  it  when  the 
wind  is  coatrary.  It  was  not  as  easy  for  Grace 
Darling  to  rescue  a  drowning  boat's-crew,  when 
the  waves  ran  high,  as  to  rescue  a  man  in  calm 
water,  but  the  triumph  was  much  greater  in  the 
one  case  than  in  the  other.  Any  of  us  can  man- 
age to  love  those  who  love  us,  when  all  things  go 
smooth ;  but  the  test  comes  when  we  are  asked, 
Have  you  kindly  feelings  toward  those  who  do  not 
love  you,  who  are  offensive  to  you,  who  have 
really  injured  you  ? 

It  is  a  delightful  memory  of  John,  of  Constanti- 
nople, so  eloquent  as  to  be  better  known  as  Chry- 
sostom,  the  "Golden  Mouth,"  that  from  the 
extremity  of  his  forlorn  and  unjust  exile,  stripped 
of  his  honors,  treated  with  shame  and  contempt, 
exposed  to  a  harsh  climate  and  in  constant  danger, 
he  sent  out  his  heart  benevolently  toward  distant 
strangers,  and  offered  to  be  reconciled  to  the 
bishop  who  had  procured  his  condemnation,  and 
when  that  bishop  spurned  his  friendly  overtures, 
Chrysostom  still  urged  his  friends  to  uphold  the 
ministrations  of  his  enemy.  Those  of  us  who 
remember  how  selfish  the  general  current  of  life 
is  among  passengers  at  sea,  must  recall  with 
admiration  the  story  of  Paul,  the  prisoner,  how 
nobly   thoughtful   he   was   for   all   who   were   on 


210  DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY  WIND. 

board  the  wrecked  vessel.  That  certainly  is  a 
blessed  grace,  which  is  attained,  when  one  who  is 
in  the  midst  of  the  sea  and  distressed  with  rowing, 
remains  benevolent  in  temper,  unsoured,  kindly, 
whatever  be  the  provocations  which  tempt  and 
annoy. 

These,  then,  are  some  prominent .  graces  which 
may  be  expected  to  characterize  a  Christian 
disciple,  when  things  go  against  him — patience, 
humility,  gratitude,  hope,  conscientiousness  and 
real  kindness  of  spirit.  Associated  with  all  these, 
lying  under  them,  is  that  general  habit  of  soul 
called  in  the  Scriptures,  peace,  "  the  peace  which 
passeth  understanding."  We  often  wonder  at  the 
physical  strength  which  is  given  to  some  frail 
mother,  during  weeks  of  constant  watching  with 
the  sick  in  her  home.  Every  day  would  seem 
to  be  the  last.  At  any  hour  we  marvel  that  she 
does  not  give  out.  Strength  is  given  her,  we  say. 
A  similar,  but  an  inexhaustible  strength  is  given 
to  not  a  few  whose  life's  boat  is  in  the  midst 
of  the  sea.  It  comes  of  great  trust.  It  comes 
of  considering,  as  the  disciples  are  said  not  to 
have  done,  the  miracle  of  the  loaves.  "  Thou  wilt 
keep  him  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is  stayed 
upon  thee ;  because  he  trusteth  in  thee.  My 
peace  I  give  unto  you  ;   not  as  the  world  giveth 


DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY    WIND.  211 

give  I  unto  you."  This  is  the  promise  of  one 
who  came  down  from  the  mountain  of  prayer 
and  walked  the  angry  sea,  and  on  whose  coming 
into  the  tossing  boat,  the  wind  ceased. 

Very  well,  I  know  that  the  Christian  disciples, 
who  do  not  show  these  distinguishing  qualities, 
when  they  are  sick  or  bereaved,  or  beset  by 
provocation  and  reverses,  are  somewhat  numer- 
ous. Instances  may  be  cited  in  which  some 
who  do  not  claim  to  have  Christian  faith,  have 
comported  themselves  better  than  the  saints. 
I  recall  the  tone  and  look  of  a  woman,  who  would 
call  herself  a  worldling,  as,  referring  to  the 
behavior  of  some  people  in  the  severe  earthquake 
of  1868,  she  remarked,  "  I  should  think  Christians 
would  have  more  good  sense  and  not  be  so  weak 
and  fearful  as  other  folks."  We  learn,  however, 
that  faith  does  not  furnish  stronger  nerves  or 
make  the  feebler  temperament,  or  will,  or  intellect 
equal  to  the  stronger.  But  it  imparts  to  the 
weaker,  as  well  as  to  the  stronger,  some  qualities 
which  neither  could  have  possessed  without  it. 
We  are  to  remember,  too,  that  Christian  faith 
is  a  growth.  Many  of  us  who  bear  the  name, 
disciples,  are  only  children  yet,  and  we  have  not 
full  possession  of  our  privileges  in  Christ. 
These  men  on  Lake  Tiberias  had  not  yet  mani- 


212  DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY  WIND. 

fested  any  marked  superiority  to  their  fellows. 
Peter,  walking  on  the  water  to  go  to  Jesus,  went 
down,  as  many  a  baby  before  him  has  gone  down, 
when  adventuring  to  walk.  The  disciples  had 
just  faith  enough  to  stay  in  the  Master's  school. 
Kemaining  in  that  school,  moral  superiority  came 
at  last  to  those  fishermen's  lives.  The  time  came, 
when  they  could  walk  the  sea  of  martyrdom  and 
not  quail.  Some  of  the  young  Cliristians,  who 
are  before  me  now,  may  not  be  always  as  strong 
as  they  should  be.  But,  if  they  are  really  in 
Christ's  training,  they  may  yet  surprise  us  by 
the  grace  with  which  they  shall  meet  the  diffi- 
culties of  approaching  years. 

It  must  be  plain  that  our  witness  for  our  Lord 
will  depend  very  much  on  the  degree  in  which 
we  shall  bear  the  very  trials  which  we  ourselves 
meet.  It  is  no  marvel  to  see  men  and  women 
calm,  good-tempered,  cheery,  joyous,  when  they 
have  good  health,  and  most  other  things  to  their 
mind.  But  are  there  such  things  as  peace, 
patience,  charity,  integrity,  when  outward  fortunes 
are  unpropitious,  our  plans  are  disappointed  and 
the  hopes  we  cherished  are  laid  in  the  dust  ?  Paul 
said,  "  For  I  have  learned  in  whatsoever  state  I 
am  therein  to  be  content ;  "  that  is,  he  had  stored 
up   within   him    spiritual    riches    on    which    he 


DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY  WIND.  213 

could  draw,  whatever  happened  in  temporal 
experiences.  The  hours  of  study  in  the  life  of  a 
scholar  have  been  called  by  a  recent  writer,  his 
''  camel  hours,  when  he  drank  himself  full  so  that 
he  could  oft  refresh  himself  with  a  draught  in 
the  dry  desert."  Cool  springs  and  rejoicing 
streams  are  many  in  the  mountains,  but  he  who 
can  make  them  flow  on  the  arid  plains  and  in  the 
midst  of  alkaline  wastes  is  the  great  benefactor. 

With  us  all,  the  winds  are  more  are  less 
contrary.  Even  the  little  children  have  times, 
when  the  billows  go  over  them.  Boys  and  girls 
do  not  succeed  in  ruling  their  own  spirits.  Older 
people  are  often  distressed  with  rowing.  Some 
of  us,  wJio  have  not  to  speak  of  very  angry  seas, 
go  down,  it  may  be,  every  day  before  some  annoy- 
ance which  frets  and  masters  us.  We  need  to  lay 
hold  of  the  strength  which  is  given  us  in  Christ. 
The  seas  will  continue  boisterous.  They  may 
become  to  individuals  more  furious  than  we  have 
ever  seen  them.  When  I  think  of  what  has 
happened  in  the  family  histories  of  this  congre- 
gation, during  the  last  few  years,  I  must  conclude 
that  we  can  not  expect  the  seas  will  be  made 
smooth  for  us  on  all  our  future  journeys.  The 
Master,  on  the  evening  referred  to  in  our  text, 
did  not  go  away  and  pray  that  there  might  be  no 


•214  DISCIPLES  IN  A   CONTRARY  WIND. 

storm,  but  that  his  disciples  might  learn  some- 
thing by  roeans  of  the  storm.  His  prayer  on  the 
night  of  his  betrayal,  too,  was  not  that  his 
disciples  might  be  taken  out  of  the  world,  but 
that  they  might  be  kept  from  the  evil. 

We  are  apt  to  say,  Oh,  if  I  were  in  such  and 
such  circumstances,  were  well  instead  of  sick,  had 
fewer  cares  and  burdens,  if  other  people  would 
behave  better,  if  we  were  not  cheated  and  thwarted, 
if  husband  were  more  attentive,  wife  more  appreci- 
ative, children  more  obedient,  neighbors  more  soci- 
able, church  more  alive,  why,  then  I  should  be  as 
sweet  and  good  as  any  saint.  Doubtless  these 
things  have  their  influence ;  doubtless  some  con- 
ditions are  more  helpful  than  others  ;  doubtless 
the  Master  sympathizes  with  what  is  the  peculiar 
disability  with  which  any  one  of  us  has  to  struggle, 
but  let  us  never  forget  that  it  is  the  boast  and  has 
been  the  triumph  of  our  faith,  that  Christ  enables 
those  who  give  themselves  into  his  keeping  to 
walk  the  tossing  sea  as  serenely  as  other  men 
walk  the  land ;  that  in  our  labor  and  under  our 
heavenly  burdens  he  will  give  us  rest. 


XIV. 
THE  lEREPEESSIBLE  TRUTH. 

"  And  Elijah,  the  Tishbite,  toho  was  of  the  sojourners  of  Gilead^ 
said  unto  Ahab,  As  the  Lord,   the  God  of  Israel,  liveth  !  " 

—1  Kings,  17  :  1. 

^  I  ^HE  very  name  of  Elijah,  this  characteristic 
^  oath  of  his,  and  his  impressive  individuality, 
suggest  and  illustrate  the  point  to  which  I 
immediately  invite  your  attention.  Let  that 
point  be,  The  truth  of  the  living  God  irrepressible. 
The  name,  Elijah,  means.  My  God  is  Jehovah. 
He  is  represented  as  using  the  solemn  affirmation 
in  the  text  on  two  grave  occasions.  The  same 
affirmation  was  transmitted  by  him  to  his  suc- 
cessor, Elisha.  Again  and  again,  by  the  vivid 
movement  of  his  personal  life  and  manner  and 
character,  he  stamped  upon  his  age,  and,  indeed, 
upon  all  ages,  the  truth  that  God  is  a  living 
power  in  the  world. 

Those  of  us,  who  look  back  so  many  years, 
recall  the  aptness  and  force  of  that  expression 
used  by  Wm.  H.  Seward,  when  he  said  concerning 


216  THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH. 

the  issue,  then  making,  between  free  and  slave 
labor  on  American  soil,  the  conflict  is  irrepressi- 
ble. The  expression  became  a  watch-word  and 
a  prophecy.  The  nation  felt  in  all  its  fibre  that 
there  was  something  in  the  very  constitution  of 
man,  which  made  it  impossible  to  suppress  that 
conflict.  So,  there  is  something  in  the  very  nature 
of  the  soul,  which  makes  it  certain  that  the  truth 
of  the  living  God  will  assert  itself ;  it  will  break 
forth  as  certainly  as  the  electricity  that  is  in  the 
air  will  flash  and  flash  again  along  the  sky. 

See  how  this  point  lies  in  the  accompanying 
narrative.  Ahab  had  been  doing  all  he  could 
to  make  it  appear  that  the  distinctive  faith  of 
Israel  was  effete.  The  six  kings  who  had 
preceded  Ahab  had  thrown  their  example  the 
same  way.  For  seventy-five  years,  all  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Court  had  tended  to  unbelief.  The 
apostasy  seems  successful.  Baal  has  supplanted 
Jehovah.  The  groves  are  thick  with  the  priests 
of  Astarte.  But  all  at  once,  a  clap  in  a  clear 
sky,  Elijah  appears,  unheralded,  without  cere- 
mony, from  the  mountains  of  Gilead,  from  some 
obscure  place  there ;  his  clothes  are  not  cut 
after  the  reigning  fashion.  He  announces  in  the 
name  of  Jehovah,  a  judgment  on  the  faithless 
land.      The  long  drouth  that  follows  burns  deep 


THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH.  217 

into  the  dust  the  conviction  of  a  living  Lord. 
On  Carmel,  that  conviction  gets  spontaneous  and 
well  nigh  universal  utterance.  The  four  hundred 
and  fifty  prophets  could  not  cry  it  down.  It 
asserted  itself  in  fury.  But  then  followed  a 
sudden  reaction  in  the  popular  mind  and  Elijah 
fled  for  his  life.  It  might  seem  that  the  late 
revival  was  only  a  transitory  excitement.  Ahab's 
fears  were  allayed.  Jezebel  rises  and  does  her 
worst.  Naboth's  rights  are  of  no  account.  He 
is  stoned  to  death  and  there  is  no  avenger.  Has 
not  truth  fallen  flat  in  the  streets  ?  The  King 
has  gone  down  to  take  possession  of  the  dead 
man's  land.  Dead  men  tell  no  tales.  No  divine 
ear  hears  them  if  they  are  told.  What  a  fine 
garden  of  herbs  this  will  be  !  But  again  walks, 
unbidden  as  before,  this  same  Tishbite  with  the 
ominous  name,  and  with  his  divine  and  stinging 
message.  How  did  he  get  there  ?  Whence  does 
he  come  ?  Who  told  him  where  to  find  the  king  ? 
How  is  it  that  the  monarch  sits  down  in  sack- 
cloth and  goes  humbly  ?  These  vivid  scenes  are 
illustrations  of  our  thought.  The  soul  is  so 
made,  and  the  world  is  such  in  its  very  consti- 
tution, that  the  living  God  is  an  irrepressible  truth. 
It  will  not  forever  down  at  the  bidding  of  any 
prince  or  under  the  power  of  any  fashion. 


218  THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH. 

This  point  comes  to  sight  in  the  history  of 
human  speculation.  Ever  since  men  began  to 
think,  some  have  endeavored  to  explain  the  facts 
of  the  world  without  the  idea  of  a  personal  living 
governor.  A  vast  amount  of  ingenuity  has  been 
expended  on  the  explanations.  But  the  trouble 
is,  the  world  will  not  stay  explained.  It  bursts 
the  theories  which  have  been  manufactured  for 
it.  It  is  too  large  for  them.  There  are  more 
things  by  a  great  many  in  heaven  and  earth  than 
can  be  accommodated  within  any  of  these  expla- 
nations. When  we  hear,  for  example,  so  much 
said  of  evolution,  the  inference  might  keep  coming 
into  the  mind,  if  the  earth  and  the  stars  and 
man  himself  have  come  to  be  what  they  are,  little 
by  little,  by  slight  variations  occurring  aud  con- 
tinuing for  millions  of  ages,  why  then,  where  is 
the  Lord  of  Elijah  and  of  the  Christian  faith  ? 
Is  not  the  notion  of  a  Creator  needless  ?  Do  not 
matter  and  law  account  for  everything  ?  But  we 
have  only  to  ask  for  the  origin  of  matter  and 
inquire,  how  comes  there  to  be  order  and  progress 
in  the  world  at  all,  and  the  thought  of  the  Divine 
agency  is  back  again  in  all  its  force.  God,  who 
had  apparently  been  receding  step  by  step  into 
an  infinite  distance,  till  he  was  about  to  be  lost 
as  an  object  of  love  and  trust,  suddenly  re-appears 


THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH.  219 

all  along  the  lines  by  which  he  had  receded. 
Nothing  is  more  curious  to  the  student  of  opinion 
than  this.  Again  and  again,  he  sees  this  done 
over  and  over.  Some  novel  explanation  will  be 
broached.  It  will  fill  all  the  air.  Some  religious 
men  will  distrust  it  and  begin  to  controvert  it. 
They  will  dread  or  deride  it.  Other  over  sanguine 
advocates  will  draw  or  insinuate  atheistic  infer- 
ences. The  cry  wall  be  raised  on  the  one  hand, 
religion  has  now  got  its  fatal  blow.  The  cry 
will  be  raised  on  the  other  side,  the  foundations 
are  destroyed,  and  what  will  the  righteous  do  ? 
Bat  before  long,  it  will  be  found  that  the  new 
explanation  is  either  unverified;  or,  if  verified, 
is  only  more,  not  less,  religious,  than  the  old. 
For  all  thinking,  and  all  objects  of  thought,  pre- 
suppose the  thinker.  Matter  itsel'f  is  saturated 
with  mind.  The  fact  of  the  Divine  presence  is 
irrepressible.  It  is  like  the  light ;  when  you 
have  done  your  best  to  exclude  it,  it  will  come 
shining  in  just  as  if  it  had  never  been  shut  out. 

The  point  before  us  is  illustrated  by  the  changes 
which  take  place  in  the  experience  of  human  lives. 
The  psalmist  says  :  *'  My  heart  and  my  flesh  crieth 
oat  for  God,  for  the  living  God."  It  is  not  uncom- 
mon for  men  who  have  been  remarkably  destitute 
of   religious   feeling,   who    have    been    positively 


220  THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH. 

unbelieving,  to  show,  of  a  sudden,  a  surprising  and 
permanent  devotion.  Seldom  does  this  take  place 
by  a  process  of  argument,  at  least  not  by  a  process 
of  formal  argument.  It  comes  about  by  some 
experience  which  opens  to  the  man  new  depths  of 
his  own  nature  and  new  needs.  The  writer  of  tlie 
book  of  Ecclesiastes  represents  himself  as  full  of 
doubts  and  problems  unsolved.  He  seeks  for  a 
solution  in  wealth,  in  pleasure,  in  wisdom.  It  is 
because  his  heart  finds  deeper  wants  than  these 
satisfy,  that  he  finally  rests  in  the  conclusion  of 
the  whole  matter,  that  is,  in  God  and  obedience  to 
him.  It  was  so  with  Augustine.  He  tried  sen- 
sual delights,  rhetorical  fame,  philosophy,  but 
these  gave  him  no  rest.  The  void  of  his  nature 
grew  larger  and  more  painful  till  at  last  it  was 
filled  by  the  Son  of  God.  Nothing  else  was  large 
enough  to  fill  it.  Now,  human  beings  are  all  the 
time  subject  to  this  deepened  knowledge  of  them- 
selves. The  child  will  not  remain  a  child.  Play 
will  not  always  be  his  chief  element.  He  will  not 
always  be  content  with  a  drum  and  a  kite.  "  The 
heavy  and  weary  weight  of  all  this  unintelligible^ 
world,"  will  some  day  sink  into  his  feeling.  And 
then  what?  Why,  my  heart  and  my  flesh  cry  out 
for  God,  for  the  living  God.  That  is  a  striking 
description  which  Dr.  John  Brown  gives  of  his 


THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH.  221 

father.  On  the  death  of  his  wife,  "he  went 
hom^  and  preached  her  funeral  sermon — out- 
wardly unmoved — but  from  that  time  dates  an 
entire,  though  always  deepening  alteration  in  his 
preaching,  because  an  entire  change  in  his  way  of 
dealing  with  God's  word — he  got  a  new  adaman- 
tine point  to  the  instrument  with  which  he  bored, 
and  with  a  fresh  power,  with  his  whole  might,  he 
sunk  it  right  down  to  the  living  rock,  to  the  virgin 
gold."  Ihis  was  the  effect  of  heartfelt  sorrow 
upon  a  mind  already  devout.  It  intensified  devo- 
tion. It  made  the  eye  see  the  land  which  is  very 
far  off.  It  made  that  land  real  and  solemn. 
Similar  experiences  have  changed  again  and  again 
the  aspect  of  divine  things  in  minds  which  before 
had  beea  careless  or  even  unbelieving.  Did  not 
the  loss  of  his  idolized  wife  very  strongly 
influence  to  a  more  religious  mood  the  later  philo- 
sophical thought  of  such  a  critic  as  John  S.  Mill  ? 
And  was  it  not  in  the  new  experience  induced  by 
the  wound  which  left  the  ambitious  soldier  a 
cripple,  that  Ignatius  Loyola  turned  his  thoughts 
toward  the  invisible  world  ?  But  it  is  not  mere 
loss  or  bereavement  which  gives  the  religious 
impulse.  Any  change  in  our  feelings  which 
brings  the  sense  of  dependence,  of  responsibility, 
which  awakens  conscience  or  benevolent  sympathy, 


222  THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH. 

must  tend  to  open  the  heart  to  the  great  fact  of 
God.  The  boy  has  come  to  the  period  when  he 
must  choose  his  course  ol  life  ;  or  he  has  begun 
to  feel  the  fascination  and  power  of  temptations 
which  he  is  not  strong  enough  to  overcome.  The 
gay  young  maiden  enters  upon  the  mysterious  joy 
of  motherhood.  Life  takes  on  a  larger  and  more 
serious  significance.  That  was  a  marked  dis- 
course which  Dr.  Bushnell  once  preached 
from  the  text,  "  Moab  hath  been  at  ease  from  his 
youth  and  he  hath  settled  on  his  lees  and  hath  not 
been  emptied  from  vessel  to  vessel,  neither  hath 
he  gone  into  captivity  ;  therefore  his  taste 
remained  in  him  and  his  scent  is  not  changed." 
But  Moab's  time  came,  and  he  was  emptied  from 
vessel  to  vessel.  And  our  time  comes  ;  we  see  that 
life's  changes  are  strange,  and  we  inquire  more 
and  more  what  God  means  by  them ;  we  are  led  to 
see  that  they  mean  God.  If  we  have  not  before 
felt  any  special  need  of  religion,  we  may  now  long 
after  God,  as  in  a  dry  and  thirsty  land  where  no 
water  is.  I  feel  sure  that  one  reason  why  so  many 
young  men  of  our  day  treat  religious  doctrine  so 
lightly  is  because  they  are  in  a  superficial  stage  of 
feeling,  are  conceited  ;  or  occupied  with  external 
appearances  of  life  ;  spend  so  much  of  their  time 
in  the  shows  of  things ;   have  not  begun  to  think 


THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH.  223 

deeply  ;  have  not  brought  themselves  face  to  face 
with  the  law  of  duty.  But  that  stage  cannot 
always  remain  with  many  of  them.  They  must 
pass  it.  The  great  truth  which  has  belonged  to 
humanity  for  all  time,  of  a  living  God,  belongs  in 
their  natures.  A  Pagan  poet  said,  "  Expel  nature 
with  a  fork,  and  it  will  return  again."  Let  the 
superficial  mind  reason  away  the  conviction  of  one 
Divine  presence,  it  will  come  back  to  him.  If  one 
is  to  pass  into  even  the  average  experience  of 
human  souls,  he  will  sometime  pass  into  depths 
which  will  suggest  the  utterance  of  the  man  who 
lay  down  at  Bethel,  "  Surely  God  is  in  this  place, 
and  I  knew  it  not." 

Again,  the  point  before  us  is  illustrated  by  the 
fact  that  great  religious  movements  and  teachers 
are  sure,  sooner  or  later,  to  confront  even  thought- 
less souls  with  the  fact  of  the  living  God.  Elijah 
himself  was  a  wonderful  institution  for  keeping 
the  sense  of  God  alive  in  the  nation  of  Israel.  So 
were  all  the  prophets.  They  kept  going  hither 
and  thither  with  holy  messages  on  their  lips. 
They  were  inwardly  constrained  to  carry  these 
messages.  When  Jeremiah  went  about  among 
his  people,  he  met  with  derision,  so  that  he  said 
to  himself,  "  I  will  not  make  mention  of  him,  nor 
speak  any  more  in  his  name."     But  he  could  not 


224  THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH. 

help  himself.  For  he  says,  "  But  his  word  was  in 
my  heart,  as  a  burning  fire  shut  up  in  my  bones, 
and  I  was  weary  with  forbearing,  and  I  could  not 
stay."  So  you  know  it  was  with  Peter  and  John, 
when  they  were  told  by  the  council  not  to  speak 
any  more  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  "We  cannot  but 
speak  the  things  which  we  have  seen  and  heard." 
Similar  is  the  affirmation  of  St.  Paul,  "  Woe  to  me 
if  I  preach  not  the  Gospel."  Some  power  says  to 
all  such  men,  "Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul 
for  the  work  I  have  given  them  to  do."  Once 
that  feeling  comes  into  a  man's  breast  and  he  is 
bound  to  speak.  If  he  should  hold  his  peace, 
the  stones  would  cry  out.  If  the  great  mass  of 
any  community  become  indifferent  and  begin  to 
talk  as  if  these  religious  ideas  were  displaced  by 
the  progress  of  the  age,  then  some  Bernard,  or 
Lutlier,  or  Calvin,  or  Wesley,  or  Moody  will  pass 
that  way  and  startle  the  dull  ear  of  society  with  the 
cry.  As  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  liveth  !  This  irre- 
pressible cry  is  by  no  means  agreeable.  Indeed, 
it  seems  very  ill-timed  and  out  of  place  to  many. 
Have  not  our  philosophies  and  sciences  proven 
that  the  day  of  such  beliefs  has  passed  ?  If  so,  your 
philosophies  and  sciences  will  need  to  be  revised. 
For  God  lives  in  the  heart  of  humanity,  and  if 
at  any  time  any  considerable  portion  is  seeking 


THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH.  225 

liow  it  may  not  recognize  him,  then  he  will  speak 
out  only  with  a  sharper  and  more  ringing  empha- 
sis by  the  mouth  of  some  Elijah. 

The  point,  now  illustrated  in  this  threefold  way, 
is  one  o£  strength  and  encouragement  to  all  Chris- 
tian workers.  There  are  times  when  the  boldest 
of  good  men  faint  in  their  feelings.  The  evils 
become  so  portentous.  The  contagion  of  error 
is  so  sweeping.  The  moral  inertia  is  so  great. 
The  zeal  and  activity  of  even  them  who  are  good 
are  so  inadequate  to  the  issues.  So  it  was  with 
Elijah  under  the  juniper  tree,  weary,  disappointed, 
spent,  the  grim  desert  before  him  and  the  mad 
world  behind  him,  no  wonder  it  seemed  to  him 
that  he  had  fallen  on  hopeless  days.  But  the  les- 
son was  soon  taught  him,  that  if  God  be  not  pres- 
ent in  one  form  of  working,  he  is  in  some  other. 
If  not  in  the  earthquake  and  not  in  the  fire,  yet  in 
the  still,  small  voice.  It  is  related  of  that  Luther, 
whose  single  voice  once  compelled  the  European 
world  to  listen,  that  on  one  occasion  in  later  years, 
when  everything  seemed  to  be  going  wrong,  when 
his  plans  were  thwarted  and  his  spirit  wounded  in 
the  house  of  his  friends,  that  his  wife,  Catharine, 
appeared  in  mourning.  What  has  happened  ? 
asked  her  good  spouse.  God  is  dead,  was  the 
reply.      How   absurd  !  and  Luther  rallied   at  the 


226  THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH. 

very  idea.     His  wife's  humorous  turn  cleared  his 

skies.     For  had  he  not  always  said  and  had  he  not 

sung, 

"  A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God, 
A  bulwark  never  failing." 

Had  not  he  shared  the  conviction  which  took 
familiar  shape  in  the  well-known  German  tradi- 
tion concerning  Frederick  Barbarossa  ?  That 
emperor,  says  the  myth,  though  he  died  in  the  far 
East,  in  the  crusades,  is  not  dead,  but  only  sleep- 
ing, till  the  bad  world  reach  its  worst,  when  he 
will  re-appear.  He  sits  within  the  hill  near  Salz- 
burg. A  peasant  once  stumbling  into  the  interior 
there,  saw  the  emperor  in  his  stone  cavern.  He 
sat  at  a  marble  table,  leaning  on  his  elbow,  wink- 
ing, only  half  asleep,  his  beard  had  grown  through 
the  table  and  streamed  on  the  floor.  He  looked  at 
the  peasant,  and  asked  the  time  of  day.  "Not 
quite  time  yet,  will  be  soon  ! "  This  is  only  a 
legendary  way  of  rendering  the  irrepressible  con- 
viction, which  belongs  to  humanity,  of  a  coming 
Messiah.  No  grave,  though  it  be  the  bed  of 
a  river  in  the  far  East,  can  hold  him  fast.  No 
Salzburg  cavern  can  confine  him.  He  ever  liveth. 
The  sons  of  the  prophets  may  miss  God's  spirit  in 
Elijah  ;  may  search  the  mountains  of  Gilead  three 
days  and  find  him  not ;  but  when  they  return  they 


THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH.  227 

shall  see  that  the  same  spirit  rests  on  Elisha. 
Centuries  may  go  by  and  it  may  often  seem  as 
if  there  were  a  blank  Bible.  But  Elijah  will 
re-appear.  John  the  Baptist  will  represent  him. 
Herod  may  kill  John,  but  even  Herod's  conscience 
when  it  hears  of  the  works  of  Jesus,  will  say,  it  is 
John ;  he  is  risen  from  the  dead.  The  disciples 
of  Christ  may  go  sorrowing,  because  Jesus  is 
crucified,  but  before  they  are  aware,  he  shall 
stand  in  the  midst  of  them  and  say,  Peace  be 
unto  you. 

The  idea  that  the  power  of  Christian  teaching 
is  past  is  industriously  circulated  in  many  influ- 
ential circles.  Not  a  few  of  a  better  class  have 
discussed,  indeed,  what  we  shall  do  for  morality 
and  good  order,  what  shall  be  substituted  in  its 
place.  But  such  assumptions  will  be  confounded 
just  as  certainly  as  they  are  indulged.  For  the 
commandment  that  read  long  ago,  reads  now,  Thou 
shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me.  Philosophy 
itself,  this  restive  human  nature,  and  inspired  men 
and  women,  will  echo  that  command  as  long  as  the 
world  stands.  Our  literature  may  be  disdainful 
of  Christian  doctrine,  our  politicians  may  ignore 
the  Christian  Sabbath,  the  daily  press  may  forget 
the  claims  of  temperance,  and,  in  consequence, 
many   voices   may   speak   as   if    the   day   of    the 


228  THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH. 

church  were  gone,  but  if  the  stones  do  not  speak 
out,  we  may  be  sure  the  women  will. 

Let  it  be  remembered,  too,  by  us  all,  that  if  this 
truth  be  irrepressible,  we  must,  every  one  of  us, 
adjust  ourselves  to  it.  The  story  is  told  of  a 
man  in  the  interior  of  our  country,  who  kept  mov- 
ing off  farther  and  farther  into  the  wilderness,  for 
he  did  not  want  to  hear  of  God  again.  But 
religion  would  keep  coming  and  settling  in  his 
neighborhood.  He  would  then  move  off.  But,  as 
was  long  ago  said,  no  refugee  can  escape  from 
himself.  So,  this  man  could  not  escape  the 
thought,  which  belonged  to  his  nature,  nor  the 
inevitable  passing  his  way  of  some  messenger  of 
God.  He  thought  it  best  to  come  to  terms  with 
him  and  be  at  peace.  That  is  best  for  us  all.  For 
nothing  we  can  think  and  nothing  that  we  can  do, 
not  even  suicide,  can  annul  the  fact  of  the  Divine 
presence  in  the  universe  and  of  our  quick  responsi- 
bility thereto.  At  a  certain  age,  or  in  some  in- 
considerate mood,  boys  have  been  said  to  try  to 
run  away  from  their  own  shadow.  But  they  soon 
found  that  the  attempt  is  futile.  Little  children, 
pleased  for  a  time,  and  then  displeased,  with  their 
own  image  in  a  glass,  have  been  known  to  break  the 
glass.  But  the  soul  of  man,  which  gives  back  the 
divine  image,  cannot  be  broken  so  that  it  will  not 


THE  IRREPRESSIBLE  TRUTH.  229 

suggest  the  thought  and  fact  of  the  living  God. 
'•  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  thou  art  there ;  if  I 
make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold  thou  art  there." 
There  is  no  use  in  shutting  our  ears  and  imagin- 
ing that  his  voice  is  hushed  ;  of  closing  our  eyes 
and  dreaming  that  he  is  unknown.  Let  us 
acquaint  ourselves  with  him.  With  this  Being  who 
is  inseparably  associated  with  the  exercise  of 
thought,  with  this  Being  in  whom  I  live  and  move 
and  have  my  being,  let  me  be  in  a  covenant,  well 
ordered  and  sure.  For  then  this  fact  of  the 
Divine  presence  will  lead  me  to  say  with  the 
psalmist,  "  How  precious  also  are  thy  thoughts 
unto  me,  O  God  !  How  great  is  the  sum  of  them  ! 
If  I  should  count  them,  they  are  more  in  number 
than  the  sand.  When  I  awake,  I  am  still  with 
thee."  No  longer  is  there  any  irrepressible  con- 
flict ;  there  is  an  irrepressible  peace. 


XV. 


THE  SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SAVIOUB'S 
HAND. 

"  And  I  saw  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  ...  a  lamb  standing  as 
though  it  had  been  slain.  .  .  .  And  he  came  and  he  taketh  it  out  of 
the  right  hand  of  him  that  sat  on  the  throne.''''— 'Re\.  v  :  6,  7. 

T  N  the  chapter  before  this,  John  had  represented 
■^  himself  as  looking  into  the  unseen  world  and 
beholding  there,  as  the  central  object  of  vision,  a 
throne  and  him  that  sat  upon  it.  In  this  chapter 
his  attention  is  arrested  by  the  sealed  book  which 
the  sovereign  holds  in  his  right  hand  ;  and,  soon 
after,  his  anxiety  lest  the  book  should  remain 
sealed  is  relieved  by  the  sight  of  the  one  being, 
who  is  able  to  open  it.  That  being  is  described,  in 
the  striking  language  of  the  text,  as  the  Lamb  in 
the  midst  of  the  throne,  standing  as  though  it  had 
been  slain.  When  this  wonderful  personage  took 
the  closely  sealed  book,  the  entire  company  who 
surrounded  the  throne  burst  into  an  anthem  of 
joyous  praise. 

The  book  we  all  understand  to  be  that  in  which 


232  SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SAVIOUR'S  HAND. 

was  written  in  advance  the  events  which  were  to 
occur  in  connection  with  the  advancing  kingdom 
of  Christ  upon  the  earth.  It  was  an  outline  in 
vivid  symbol  of  the  coming  history  of  mankind. 
No  wonder  that  John  had  such  a  great  desire 
to  have  this  book  opened.  If  I  had  in  my  hand, 
this  morning,  a  document  in  which  the  fortunes 
of  every  person  in  this  congregation  were  sketched 
for  the  next  fifty  years,  even  the  fears  for  what  it 
might  contain  of  evil  would  hardly  repress  the 
curiosity  with  which  many  would  desire  to  have 
it  read.  When  we  actually  study,  and  try  to  make 
out  in  detail,  what  events  were  figured  forth  in  the 
roll  which  John  saw,  we  might  feel  that  in  many 
particulars  the  future  was  too  dark  and  too  sad  ; 
we  might  almost  prefer  not  to  know  the  story 
beforehand.  For  as  soon  as  the  seals  are  broken 
we  see  that  the  coming  scenes  are  not  peaceful  nor 
predominantly  gladsome.  To  be  sure,  the  first 
horse  is  white  and  means  victory,  but  victory  has 
its  shadowed  side ;  the  next  horse  is  red  and 
means  war,  bloody  war ;  the  third  is  black,  and 
means  famine  ;  the  fourth  is  pale  and  his  name  is 
death,  and  Hades  followed  with  him.  And  when 
was  opened  the  fifth  seal,  we  hear  the  cry  of 
martyred  souls,  of  men  slain  for  the  word  of 
God,    The  sixth  seal  reveals  the  scenes  which  come 


SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SA  VI OUR' S  HAND.  233 

with  an  earthquake.  And  when  at  last  the  seventh 
seal  is  broken,  the  half  hour's  silence  is  only  a 
preparation  for  the  no  less  awe-inspiring  events 
which  follow  each  other,  as  the  seven  angels  sound 
their  trumpets.  According  to  the  opened  book, 
the  future  of  the  world  was  to  be  largely  charac- 
terized by  war,  famine,  death,  martyrdom  and 
great  cosmic  convulsions.  No  one  who  has  read 
the  history  of  the  first  and  second  centuries  will 
hesitate  to  say  that  the  prophesy  was  abundantly 
verified.  Nor  can  the  record  of  any  succeeding 
centuries  be  read  without  bearing  witness  to  the 
fidelity  of  the  general  description,  here  given,  of 
what  was  to  be.  We  are  accustomed  to  regard  our 
nineteenth  century  with  complacency.  And  cer- 
tainly there  is  much  in  it  which  calls  for  appreci- 
ation and  for  gratitude  and  for  hope.  Yet  our 
modern  civilization  has  very  sombre  sides.  We 
who  have  lived  but  a  few  decades,  have  seen  the 
red  and  the  black  and  the  pale  horse  come  forth 
and  trample  the  earth.  While  Ave  sing  the  mar- 
vellous advances  which  have  been  made  and  are 
making,  and  compare  the  comforts  and  luxuries 
and  increased  intelligence  of  the  present  with  the 
past,  there  are  loud  voices  of  discontent,  and  social 
perils  confront  us  on  every  side.  The  optimist 
does  not  have  it  all  his  own  way,  for  the  pessimist 


234  SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SAVIOUR'S  HAND. 

is  abroad  also ;  and  some  soberest  men  feel  sure 
that  the  morning  of  the  second  advent  must  be 
very  near,  because  it  is  so  very  dark  just  now.  No, 
there  has  never  been  any  age  in  which  our  Lord's 
language  would  be  out  of  place  in  the  eyes  of 
thoughtful  and  godly  observers,  "Upon  the  earth 
distress  of  nations,  in  perplexity  for  the  roaring 
of  the  sea  and  the  billows  ;  men  fainting  for  fear 
and  for  expectation. of  the  things  which  are  com- 
ing on  the  world."  The  seals  and  trumpets  and 
bowls  which  John  saw  in  connection  with  the  book, 
are  only  somewhat  more  vivid  and  particular  unfold- 
ings  of  the  language  of  the  Saviour.  They  are 
faithful  picturings  of  the  succession  of  stormy  and 
troubled  scenes  which  make  up  human  history. 
No  one  who  knows  what  the  real  story  of  mankind 
has  been  can  look  forward  to  the  future  genera- 
tions without  feeling  the  possibilities  of  evil.  No 
one  who  has  watched  the  tragedies  that  have  been 
enacted  during  his  own  little  life-time,  can  have 
altogether  roseate  anticipations  concerning  what  is 
to  occur  in  the  experience  which  awaits  himself,  or 
those  whom  he  holds  dear.  And  .if  it  were  not  for 
one  thing,  we  might  rather  choose  to  have  the 
book  that  lies  in  God's  hand  remain  totally  sealed. 
That  one  thing  is  suggested  by  the  vision  in 
the  text.      For  shall  I  strain  a  point,  if  I  suggest 


SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SAVIOUR'S  HAND.  235 

that  the  great  reason  why,  notwithstanding  all 
the  possibilities  of  evil  that  lie  before  us,  we  can 
look  forward  to  the  future  without  weeping,  is  that 
the  seals  of  the  book  are  to  be  broken  by  the  one 
who  is  described  in  the  remarkable  language  of 
the  text  ?  The  lamb  who  was  slain  is  in  the  midst 
of  the  throne.  The  Saviour  is  to  be  intimately 
connected  with  the  future  which  opens  before  his 
people.  He  who  was  slain  in  man's  behalf  is  not 
a  mere  wise  interpreter,  like  Daniel,  who  reads  ofiP 
what  is  written  in  the  volume  of  destiny.  The 
volume  itself  is  different  from  what  it  would  have 
been,  if  he  had  not  entered  into  vital  and  saving 
relations  with  our  human  race.  In  other  words, 
the  various  vicissitudes  of  every  individual  life,  as 
well  as  of  the  humanity  to  which  we  belong,  are  to 
be  determined  not  a  little  by  the  fact  that  this 
world's  immediate  ruler  is  a  Saviour. 

Consider,  for  a  moment,  that  the  representation 
in  this  chapter  is  not  confined  to  this  particular 
vision.  The  conception  runs  through  the  entire 
Revelation.  Thus,  the  great  multitude  whom  no 
man  could  number,  white-robed  and  bearing  palms, 
stood  before  the  Lamb.  It  was  the  Lamb  that  was 
seen  on  Mount  Zion  with  the  hundred  and  forty- 
four  thousand.  If  the  river  of  the  water  of  life  pro- 
ceeded from  the  throne,  the  throne  is  called  that 


236  SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SA  VIOUR'S  HAND. 

of  God  and  the  Lamb.  If  the  glory  of  God  lights 
up  the  heavenly  city,  so  also  it  is  said,  "  the  Lamb 
is  the  light  thereof."  If  God  is  to  wipe  away  all 
the  tears  of  the  Redeemed,  the  Lamb,  who  is  in 
the  midst  of  the  throne,  is  to  "  feed  them  and  lead 
them  unto  living  fountains  of  water." 

Consider,  also,  what  an  element  of  gentleness 
this  figure  adds  to  the  conception  of  God,  the 
Governor  of  the  world.  This  Revelation  of  St. 
John  contains  the  most  lofty  views  of  Divine  holi- 
ness and  sovereignty.  He  who  sat  upon  the 
throne  was  to  look  upon  like  a  jasper  stone.  Out 
of  the  throne  proceeded  lightnings,  and  voices,  and 
thunders.  Seven  lamps  of  fire  were  burning 
before  the  throne.  The  vast  world  of  created 
intelligences  rested  not,  day  and  night,  saying, 
holy,  holy,  holy.  They  cast  their  crowns  and  fell 
prostrate  before  the  most  High.  This  is  precisely 
the  conception  of  the  Divine  Being,  which  is 
specially  disliked  by  a  class  of  religious  orators 
and  essayists  in  our  day.  The  thought  of  God  as 
the  holy  Ruler  of  the  universe,  which  was  made 
so  prominent  in  the  early  theology  of  the  reforma- 
tion and  of  our  own  country,  is  distasteful  to 
many  in  our  time.  Nihilism  and  Anarchism  are 
only  the  occasional  explosion  of  that  aversion  to 
righteous    authority    which   slumbers  in   all   our 


SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SAVIOUR'S  HAND.  237 

hearts.  And  if  there  were  no  conception  of  God 
given  us  in  the  Scripture,  except  that  of  holy  and 
exacting  Sovereignty,  the  sense  of  separation 
between  us  and  God  would  become  unendurable. 
We  should  do  what  those  did  in  the  succeeding 
vision,  who  said  to  the  mountains  and  rocks,  Fall 
on  us  and  hide  us.  But  the  throne,  while  it 
remains  holy,  draws  nearer,  and  becomes  wonder- 
fully different  to  us,  when  we  see  in  the  midst  of 
it  the  Lamb  that  was  slain.  If  we  looked  at  the 
fourth  chapter  alone,  we  might  feel,  as  the  story  is 
of  the  hearer  under  Jonathan  Edwards'  preaching, 
who  cried  out.  But,  Mr.  Edwards,  is  not  God 
merciful  ?  But  the  sight  of  the  Lamb  brings  a 
a  gracious  gentleness  into  our  conception  of  the 
Divine  Sovereign. 

This  figure  also  helps  us  in  our  reading  of  the 
actual  course  of  Providence.  For  it  sets  us  to 
considering  how  the  divine  gentleness  mingles 
with  the  severer  aspects  of  human  life. 

Thus  we  fall  to  thinking  of  the  forbearance 
shown  toward  sinners.  There  is  an  immense 
amount  of  retribution  in  this  world,  but  there  is 
an  immense  amount  of  sin,  which  is  not  punished 
according  to  its  deserts.  The  wrongs  which  are 
never  righted,  the  crimes  that  are  never  proven, 
how  full  earth  has  been  of  them  !    The  Irish  are 


238  SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SAVIOUR'S  HAND. 

not  the  only  people  among  whom  injustice  on  the 
one  hand,  and  hatred  on  the  other,  goes  on  with  no 
adequate  condemnation.  These  are  not  the  only 
days  in  which  the  poor  man  has  been  treated  with- 
out consideration,  and  the  men  who  did  so  pros- 
pered in  consequence.  Souls  under  the  altar  have 
cried,  all  down  the  ages,  How  long,  O  Master,  the 
holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our 
blood  !  Surely,  there  must  be  a  Lamb  in  the 
midst  of  the  throne,  or  there  would  not  have  been 
so    much    forbearance. 

We  fall  to  thinking,  especially,  of  forbearance 
toward  converted  men.  David  said,  in  one  of  his 
psalms,  "  Thy  gentleness  hath  made  me  great ;" 
and  he  distressingly  needed  it  on  more  than  one 
occasion.  So  did  several  others  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment worthies.  A  French  unbeliever  has  collected 
in  a  book  the  instances  of  bad  conduct  in  the 
lives  of  patriarchs  and  kings,  as  an  argument  to 
the  French  people  against  the  purity  of  the  Old 
Testament.  For  would  a  righteous  God  have 
such  men  to  represent  his  government  on  the 
earth  ?  And  so  down  to  our  time.  Men  have 
come  to  membership  in  the  Christian  Church,  who 
had  and  continue  to  have  grave  faults.  Their 
brethren  have  hardly  endured  them,  and  the  world 
outside   has  mocked   or   scorned  them.      And  if 


SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SAVIOUR'S  HAND,  239 

these  men  were  what  they  professed  to  be,  they 
have  wondered  more  profoundly  than  these  critics, 
that  they  should  have  been  borne  with  so  long. 
For  what  would  any  of  us  do,  in  our  conscious 
faultiness,  were  it  not  that  there  is  a  Lamb  in  the 
midst  of  the  throne  ?  I  hear  very  severe  things 
said  about  persons  who,  I  believe,  are  genuine 
Christians.  We  get  out  of  patience  with  each 
other  on  slight  occasions.  The  conduct  of  this 
or  that  brother  and  sister  becomes  very  offensive 
to  us.  Strifes  among  brethren  rend  little  societies 
and  churches,  and  even  put  into  hostile  camps  the 
great  bodies  of  Christendom.  Christ  is  wounded 
in  the  home  of  his  friends.  How  can  they  who 
do  the  wounding  be  tolerated,  except  there  be  an 
element  of  marvellous  tenderness  in  the  divine 
government  of  the  church  ?  The  scarlet  thread  is 
woven  in  the  white  garments  of  our  sovereign.  It 
must  be  so,  else  there  could  not  be  so  delicate 
appreciation  of  imperfect  faith,  and  so  great  care 
not  to  break  the  broken  reed  nor  quench  the 
smoking  flax. 

Is  it  not  natural,  also,  under  this  figure,  to  fall  to 
thinking  of  the  attitude  of  the  divine  government 
toward  the  weak,  the  poor,  the  children  of  the 
human  family  ?  During  those  ages  which  are  called 
by  eminence  the  dark  ages,  JJL  \^  fff^^'d  jjipt  the 


240  SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SAVIOUR'S  HAND. 

church  was  the  refuge  of  those  who  were  hard 
pressed.  One  reason  assigned  for  this  was  the 
fact  that  the  clergy  were  often  drawn  from  the 
depressed  conditions  of  society.  They  had  a  tender 
feeling  for  the  unprotected  ranks  from  which  them- 
selves sprung.  If  the  Shepherd  of  our  Israel  be 
likened  to  a  lamb,  it  is  not  strange  that  in  leading 
his  flock,  he  should  carry  the  lambs  in  his  arms. 
Nothing  is  more  characteristic  of  the  Divine  King- 
dom than  to  have  special  consideration  for  the 
lowly  and  the  immature.  When  the  question  was 
asked,  have  any  of  the  rulers  believed  upon  him, 
our  Saviour  was  known  as  the  friend  of  them  that 
labored  and  were  heavy  laden  ;  the  Messiah,  not  so 
much  of  the  wise  and  prudent,  as  of  the  babes.  A 
well-known  New  York  journalist  has  lately  said  : 

"During  twenty  odd  years  of  eventful  toil  in 
the  great  city,  I  never  found  a  depth  of  misery  so 
deep,  a  poverty  so  rank,  a  crime  so  atrocious,  a 
despair  so  black,  that  some  humble  follower  of 
that  Master  did  not  find  it  out.  Into  all  holes  and 
corners  of  wretchedness,  where  vice  and  poverty, 
like  twin  wolves,  had  hunted  down  their  prey,  the 
policeman  and  reporter  always  found  the  hooded 
sister  or  the  missionary  ahead  of  them.  They 
were  the  first  to  come.  They  were  the  last  to  go. 
They  stayed  and  put  up  their  supplications,  when 


SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SAVIOUR'S  HAND.  241 

all  else  on  earth  had  forsaken  the  wretch.  They 
followed  him  to  the  prison  cell,  and  they  stood 
beside  him  on  the  gallows,  and  they  never  forgot, 
in  all  the  obloquy  of  sin  and  the  cry  of  human 
vengeance,  the  eternal  brotherhood  of  man.  And 
they  wanted  no  pay,  and  they  got  no  praise.  They 
are  doing  that  Master's  work.  True  it  was  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago,  when  he  called  them,  and  bade 
them  go  out  and  bind  up  the  broken  hearts  and 
dry  up  the  tears,  and  thus  with  tender  touches  of 
tone  they  carry  out  his  mission." 

The  volume  in  which  the  fortunes  of  these  weak 
and  wretched  ones  were  written,  would  not  have 
been  relieved  of  its  hardship,  had  it  not  been  that 
the  lamb  that  was  slain  had  touched  some  human 
hearts  with  an  unspeakable  yearning  and  sympathy. 

And  even  as  respects  the  hard  lot  itself  of  men, 
how  often  are  we  reminded  of  some  marvellous 
mitigation  and  solace,  which  brings  home  to  the 
sufferer  at  least  the  assurance  that  the  governor  of 
the  world  is  its  saviour.  I  do  not  conceal  the  fact 
that  the  way  of  Providence  is  often  inexplicable. 
The  book,  when  it  is  opened,  is  written,  within  and 
without,  with  dark  pages.  I  have  read  whole 
chapters  in  the  lives  of  men  and  women  whom  I 
have  known,  in  which  it  was  not  easy  to  see  any- 
thing but   the  relentless    succession    of    merely 


242  SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SAVIOUR'S  HAND. 

natural  causes  and  effects.  "When  the  storm  came, 
it  drove  right  on,  as  if  there  were  no  hand  that 
held  or  tempered  the  four  winds.  But  in  how 
many  hundreds  and  thousands  of  cases,  has  there 
been  a  signal  sweetness  put  in  the  cup  which  men 
have  been  called  to  drink  !  In  the  midst  of  war, 
and  famine,  and  death,  and  martyrdom,  always,  we 
find  souls  that,  though  strangely  tried,  have  felt  as 
never  before  the  sense  of  the  divine  friendship 
and  kindness.  Did  we  not  bury,  the  other  day, 
one  who  in  his  sorest  extremity,  marvelled  at  the 
peace  and  the  comfort  he  found  ministered  unto 
him  from  some  invisible  source  ?  The  vision  of 
John  represents  that,  at  the  close  of  the  sixth  seal, 
the  winds  were  holden  till  the  one  hundred  and 
forty-four  thousand  were  sealed.  And  when 
inquiry  was  made  as  to  wlio  this  white-robed 
company  were,  it  was  answered,  "  These  are  they 
which  came  out  of  the  great  tribulation."  That 
they  came  out  with  washed  robes,  was  certainly 
because  of  the  Lamb  who  is  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne. 

We  have  seen,  then,  that  there  is  much  in  the 
way  of  the  Divine  Providence  in  the  world  which 
harmonizes  with  the  remarkable  symbol  which  was 
seen  by  the  author  of  the  Apocalypse.  And 
certainly  there   is   no   conception   of  the   creator 


SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SAVIOUR'S  HAND.  243 

which  is  equal  to  this  in  beauty  or  comfort.  We 
are  familiar  with  the  deity  of  mere  uniform  forces. 
But  that  does  not  satisfy  the  heart.  We  join,  it 
may  be,  in  saying,  Holy,  Holy,  Holy.  We  feel  at 
times  that  we  are  in  the  grasp  of  omnipotence. 
What  are  we,  so  insignificant  and  so  sinful,  in  the 
immensity  of  the  divine  sway  ?  There  is  one 
answer  which  relieves  the  soul  from  the  strain 
which  these  high  thoughts  bring.  This  vast 
system  of  things  is  governed  in  the  interest  and 
held  in  the  gracious  keeping  of  the  Saviour.  What 
I  need  to  know  is,  that  I  have  welcomed  the  service 
which  that  advocate  and  mediator  has  undertaken 
on  my  account.  That  will  not  make  the  book  of 
nay  life  read  like  a  fairy  tale.  That  will  not  insure 
nje  against  war,  famine,  or  death.  I  may  have, 
possibly,  more  than  is  common  of  those  evils  which 
often  darken  these  human  skies.  But  I  may 
expect  that  the  gentleness  of  the  Lamb,  as  well  as 
the  strength  of  the  Lion,  will  be  exerted  in  my 
behalf.  The  ten  horns  and  the  seven  eyes  symbol- 
ize a  power  and  a  knowledge  which  will  carry  me 
through. 

When  I  fall  to  thinking  about  the  volume,  now 
sealed  so  closely,  which  contains  what  will  be  the 
career  of  each  member  of  this  congregation,  my 
thinking  is  not  always   as   hopeful   as   could   be 


244  SEALED  BOOK  IN  THE  SAVIOUR'S  HAND. 

wished.  What  manner  of  child  will  this  be  ? 
What  will  be  the  manhood  of  these  boys,  who 
come  and  go  ?  What  sort  of  citizens  will  these 
children  of  our  homes  and  Sunday  Schools 
become  ?  What  friendships,  partnerships,  mar- 
riages will  they  form  ?  AVill  they  have  wealth, 
poverty,  health,  sickness  ?  Will  they  live  in 
happier  or  sadder  days  than  these  ?  It  is  hard  to 
answer.  But  the  most  important  question  is, 
whether  they  are  so  disposed  toward  Christ,  that 
we  may  reasonably  expect  that,  whatever  outward 
lot  may  be  theirs,  they  will  live  as  those  who  have 
a  friend  at  the  throne. 


XVI. 
THE  JUDGMENT  A  SATISFACTION. 

"For  God  shall  bring  every  work  into  judgment,  with  every  hid- 
den thing,  whether  it  be  good  or  whether  it  be  eui7."— EccL.  12:14, 

nPHE  doctrine  of  a  final  and  full  judgment  of 
^  human  life  is  a  great  and  impressive  doctrine. 
It  is  great  and  impressive,  whichever  way  one  views 
it.  But  the  writer  of  this  book  views  it  in  the  light 
of  a  great  satisfaction.  To  his  wide-ranging  and 
often  baffled  mind,  the  fact  that  God  was  to  bring 
every  work  into  judgment,  promised  a  solution, 
some  time,  of  the  mysteries  of  the  world.  Let  us 
look  at  this  matter  in  the  same  light. 

We  may  pass  readily  into  this  view,  if  we  bethink 
ourselves  that  hardly  any  exercise  is  more  common 
and  irrepressible  to  us  all  than  that  of  judgment. 
You  have  already  caught  yourselves  in  the  act  of 
it  this  very  morning.  If  you  have  not  pronounced 
your  opinion  concerning  this  and  that  person  in 
the  congregation,  you  have  no  doubt  formed  one 
in  your  thoughts.  You  have  said  to  yourself,  such 
a  one  is  ill-  or  well-dressed;  that  boy  or  girl  is 


246  THE  JUDGMENT  A  SATISFACTION. 

silly  or  sensible ;  that  Christian  is  genuine  or 
otherwise  ;  the  preacher,  the  teachers,  the  scholars, 
the  singers,  we  shall  have  weighed  them  pretty 
well,  or  pretty  ill,  before  the  services  of  the  day 
shall  be  over.  All  the  week  long  this  is  going  on. 
A  large  part  of  our  social  intercourse  concerns  our 
or  other  people's  estimates  of  the  person  or  con- 
duct of  the  people  we  meet.  Now-a-days,  it  is 
hard  to  find  a  jury,  because  every  other  man  has 
made  up  his  mind  on  the  case,  and  what  is  the 
newspaper  but  a  series  of  items  and  leaders 
reflecting  on  everybody  ?  Who  is  the  interviewer 
but  one  who  is  trying  to  draw  out  from  every  nota- 
ble individual  who  comes  and  goes,  what  that 
notable  individual  has  to  say  concerning  the 
doings  of  the  mec  of  the  hour  ?  It  was  said  of 
a  certain  ancient  city,  that  the  citizens  and  the 
strangers  sojourning  there  "spent  their  time  in 
nothing  else  but  either  to  tell  or  hear  some  new 
thing."  And  we  know  that  our  modern  cities  suit 
the  same  description  amazingly  well.  For  here 
we  are,  a  whole  nation  of  us,  ready  for  the  news 
at  least  twice  a  day,  and  eager  to  make  up  a  verdict 
on  the  conduct  of  a  Harrison  or  a  Gladstone,  and 
even  of  the  people  whose  names  are  crowded 
together  in  the  interminable  column  of  Society's 
gossip.     We  want  to  hear  what  is  public  opinion. 


THE  JUDGMENT  A  SATISFACTION.  247 

Some  of  us  are  quite  in  a  hurry  to  express  our 
own.  You  remember  that  when  the  woman  of 
Samaria  perceived  that  Jesus  was  prophet,  she 
instantly  asked  him  to  decide  whether  her  country- 
men or  the  Jews  were  right  on  the  disputed  point, 
which  mountain  was  the  place  for  worship.  Does 
not  all  this  indicate  that  the  idea  of  a  judgment  is 
a  pleasure  to  the  human  mind  ? 

But  especially  does  the  fact  of  a  divine  judgment 
afford  satisfaction,  because  there  is  so  much  poor, 
defective,  false,  yes,  wicked  verdict  current  in  the 
world.  That  is  a  singular  phenomenon,  which 
is  called  color-blindness.  It  seems  impossible 
that  there  should  be  people  who  do  not  know 
blue  from  red.  If  that  were  all,  the  case  would 
not  be  so  bad.  For  such  persons  might  refrain 
from  pronouncing  on  colors.  Unhappily  that  is 
not  always  so.  For  how  many  are  to  be  found, 
who  though  they  are  not  competent  to  discern 
colors  in  character,  are  not  at  all  reticent  in 
descanting  upon  them !  They  are  superficial, 
unobserving,  prejudiced,  partisan,  yet  they  declare 
themselves  as  if  they  were  judicial  experts.  How 
ridiculous  it  is  for  many  of  us  to  express  ourselves 
so  freely  on  all  sorts  of  subjects  !  We  smile 
sometimes  when  we  read  over  the  programs  of 
school   exercises,   to   see  the   mighty   themes   on 


248  THE  JUDGMENT  A  SATISFACTION. 

which  the  boys  and  girls  make  up  their  minds. 
Happily  what  they  give  us  may  not  be  the  last 
word !  For  how  narrow  and  inadequate  would 
their  decision  be.  But  the  fact  that  we  are  chil- 
dren of  a  larger  growth  does  not  prevent  a  like 
narrowness.  You  may  overhear,  any  day,  people 
uttering  themselves  with  respect  to  some  person 
of  your  acquaintance  in  a  style  which  you  know  to 
be  the  veriest  caricature.  They  throw  off  an  out- 
line sketch  of  your  friend,  which  hardly  suggests 
the  real  man  at  all.  But  the  trouble  is  that  these 
casual  and  absurd  characterizations  will  affect  his 
reputation  and  influence.  They  may  affect  it  very 
seriously.  Through  him,  they  may  bring  disaster 
upon  some  great  institution  or  cause  with  which 
he  is  connected.  We  recall  to  mind  in  this  month 
of  February  the  birth-days  of  two  chief  citizens 
in  our  Kepublic.  Yet  both  Washington  and 
Lincoln  were  in  their  time  subject  to  stupid  or 
slanderous  or  abusive  misrepresentations,  which 
not  only  injured  the  men  themselves  for  the  time, 
but  imperiled  the  patriotic  treasure  which  the 
nation  had  committed  to  their  keeping.  To  a 
truth-loving  mind  what  is  so  painful  as  to  listen 
when  conversation  turns  upon  the  career  of  a  man 
who  is  running  for  a  public  office,  or  when  you  are 
compelled     to     search      the    files  of    a   partisan 


THE  JUDGMENT  A  SATISFACTION.  249 

journal  for  information  as  to  the  claims  of  rival 
candidates  !  And  even  when  the  mind  is  careful 
and  candid,  yet  it  is  also  grievously  perplexed. 
It  is  so  difficult  to  arrive  at  just  estimates.  What 
is  the  fair  conclusion  as  to  such  a  person  as  Lot, 
or  Jacob,  or  David  even,  or  Solomon  ?  How  can 
we  reconcile  the  opposing  elements  that  entered 
into  their  life  ?  So,  when  our  mind  is  bent  on  the 
utmost  charity,  we  do  not  know  how  to  settle  the 
problems  which  human  life  presents.  They  are 
too  intricate  for  us.  Must  it  not  be  a  satisfaction 
to  think  that,  however  defective  and  even  out- 
rageous, human  decisions  may  be,  there  is  a 
decision  which  is  clear  and  just  ? 

The  expectation  of  a  coming  divine  judgment 
begets  restfulness  also,  because  the  daily  judgment 
of  Providence  is  manifestly  incomplete.  No  doubt 
the  general  course  of  the  divine  working  in  this 
world  discovers  and  favors  the  good  and  exposes 
and  condemns  the  evil.  No  doubt  there  is  truth 
in  the  famous  proposition,  "The  history  of  the 
world  is  its  ment."      The  injustice  which   is 

done  in  one  generation  may  grow  clearer  when  the 
next  generation  reads  the  record.  The  descendants 
of  them  who  killed  the  prophets  may  build  their 
monuments.  The  nineteenth  century  may  reverse 
the  verdict  which  was  passed  by  the  mob  in  the 


250  THE  JUDGMENT  A  SATISFACTION. 

mad  hour  when  the  Son  of  Man  was  crucified.  But, 
manifestly,  this  historical  court  does  not  adjudicate 
a  millionth  part  of  the  bad  adjustments  which  have 
taken  place  in  a  single  decade  of  time.  Inequali- 
ties lie  over  in  each  generation,  too  numerous  to  be 
computed,  and  they  must  make  appeal,  if  any  is  to 
be  made,  not  to  history,  not  to  Gibbon,  or  Macaulay, 
or  Bancroft,  but  to  some  tribunal  higher  than  any 
which  such  as  they  administer.  This  is  the  way 
the  author  of  the  book  of  Ecclesiastes  worked  at 
the  problem  which  human  life  presented  in  his 
day.  He  saw,  he  says,  "under  the  sun,  in  the 
place  of  judgment,  that  wickedness  was  there "  ; 
he  beheld  "the  tears  of  such  as  were  oppressed, 
and  they  had  no  comforter ;  and  on  the  side 
of  their  oppressors  there  was  power,  and  they 
had  no  comforter  "  ;  he  saw  "  all  labor  and  every 
skillful  work,  that  for  this  a  man  is  envied  of  his 
neighbor  "  ;  he  saw  a  man  of  industry  and  probity 
laying  up  good  for  the  thriftless  and  the  vile  ;  he 
noted  that  things  often  went  much  the  same, 
whether  a  man  was  wicked  or  righteous  ;  he  could 
not  fail  to  observe  the  case  of  some  poor  wise  man 
delivering  a  city,  and  no  one  remembering  the  poor 
wise  man.  These  were  grievous  sights  to  our 
Hebrew  philosopher.  They  baffled  his  under-  » 
standing.      Are   they   not  the  very  sights  which 


THE  JUDGMENT  A  SATISFACTION.  251 

perplex  and  task  our  social  science  now  ?  Are  not 
these  the  problems  which  make  the  socialist  and 
the  nihilist  and  anarchist  propose  to  reconstruct 
the  world  on  some  basis  of  what  they  call  natural 
justice  ?  The  ages  increase,  and  our  century  has 
taken  to  itself  all  the  experience  of  them  who  have 
gone  before.  But  the  great  problems  are  not 
essentially  different  to-day  from  what  they  have 
always  been.  If  what  we  see  under  the  sun  be  all 
we  are  ever  to  see,  then  we  might  fall  into  the 
same  strain  with  the  author  of  our  text  and  cry 
with  him,  "  Vanity  of  vanities  ;  all  is  vanity  and  a 
striving  after  the  wind."  But  his  mind  gravitated, 
on  the  whole,  toward  one  comprehensive  truth, 
and  in  this  he  found  the  ultimate  satisfaction— God 
shall  bring  every  work  into  judgment. 
.  The  satisfaction  to  be  found  in  this  truth  becomes 
even  fuller  in  the  Christian  mind,  because  of  the 
more  definite  and  distinct  apprehension  which  that 
mind  has  of  the  Judge.  When  we  hear  Abraham 
say,  in  his  appeal  to  Jehovah,  Shall  not  the  judge 
of  all  the  earth  do  right  ?  we  feel  the  strength  and 
comfort  which  that  old  man,  living  in  the  midst  of 
the  idolatry  of  the  nations,  found  in  the  very  name 
of  an  absolutely  righteous  Ruler  of  the  world. 
The  principal  thing  the  peoples  of  the  old  world 
wanted  in  their  sovereign,  was  a  judge.     Leader- 


252  .  THE  JUDGMENT  A  SATISFACTION. 

ship  was  a  grave,  but  glad  responsibility,  when 
Moses  sat  in  his  tent  and  heard  the  endless  stories 
of  trouble  that  were  brought  for  his  decision. 
Absalom  tempted  the  loyalty  of  Israel  by  assuring 
them  that  he  would  settle  their  disputes  in  a  better 
way  than  his  father.  Solomon  won  admiring 
approval  because  he  was  able  to  touch  the  quick  of 
justice  in  deciding  which  of  two  claimants  was  the 
mother  of  the  infant  child.  And  in  the  prophecies 
of  the  Messiah,  it  was  predicted  that  he  "shall  not 
judge  after  the  sight  of  his  eyes,  but  with  righteous- 
ness shall  he  judge  the  poor  and  reprove  with 
equity  for  the  meek  of  the  earth."  Such  a  picture 
was  ravishingly  attractive  to  people  who  rarely 
enjoyed  an  upright  judiciary.  When  the  predicted 
king  came,  the  picture  was  realized  in  all  its 
beauty.  What  in  some  inspired  and  inspiring 
moment  was  seen  as  in  a  vision,  was  revealed  as  a 
visible  reality,  and  men  "beheld  his  glory  "  ;  they 
saw  the  living  Son  of  God,  and  in  him  the  ideal 
judge  was  perfectly  fulfilled.  He  lived  his  few 
marvellous  years  in  the  sight  of  men,  and  then 
ascended  into  the  heavens ;  and  all  this  tangled 
web  of  our  human  probation  is  in  his  hands.  If 
Abraham  could  confidently  appeal  to  the  Jehovah 
who  had  called  him  out  of  Haran,  and  so  could  be 
at  rest,  even  thougli  Sodom  were  destroyed,  then 


THE  JUDGMENT  A  SATISFACTION.  253 

the  Christian  mind  may  find  its  rest  in  the  thought 
that  God  has  appointed  a  day  in  which  he  will 
judge  the  world  by  that  man  whom  he  hath 
ordained.  For  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ  insures 
that  all  will  be  right  at  last. 

And  we  may  deepen  this  satisfied  feeling,  by 
considering  the  delicate  thoroughness  with  which 
such  a  judge  must  exercise  his  office.  In  many 
decisions,  we  may  recognize  the  fact  that  no  other 
result  could  be  expected,  and  yet  our  minds  are 
not  easy.  We  have  not  got,  we  think,  to  the  bot- 
tom facts.  Something  hidden  has  not  come  out 
in  the  evidence,  or  if  it  has  come  out,  perhaps  it 
has  not  had  its  due  weight.  The  diamond  and  a 
piece  of  charcoal  are  both  carbon,  but  there  is 
some  secret  in  the  formation  of  the  one  which 
makes  it  incomparably  valuable.  So  similar  con- 
duct in  one  man  may  be  justified,  and  in  another 
condemned,  because  of  some  hidden  motive  which 
underlies  the  conduct.  One  man  may  blush 
because  he  is  guilty,  while  his  neighbor  blushes 
simply  because  he  is  suspected.  Who  shall 
rightly  interpret  the  color  that  rises  in  the  face  ? 
So  much  depends  on  considerations  which  are 
slight  in  their  appearance  in  determining  the  real 
character  of  men,  that  it  is  a  great  comfort  to  read 
in  our  text  that  God  will  take  account  of  "  every 


254  THE  JUDGMENT  A  SATISFACTION. 

hidden  thing."  Dr.  Willey  in  his  interesting  narra- 
tive of  his  pioneer  voyage  to  California,  tells  us 
that  owing  to  the  wrong  rating  of  the  chronometer 
at  New  Orleans,  the  steamship  was  thirty  miles 
off  its  intended  course  by  the  time  it  passed  the 
point  of  Cuba,  How  much  depends  on  slight 
divergencies  !  Shall  our  final  judge  have  been 
sensitive  to  every  little  influence  that  has  affected 
our  moral  condition  ?  If  so,  then,  no  one  shall 
have  occasion  to  say  :  the  verdict  would  be  differ- 
ent, if  such  witnesses  had  been  called ;  if  certain 
things  which  might  have  been  considered  had 
had  their  proper  force.  All  things  will  have  been 
considered  and  have  been  assigned  their  just  force 
in  the  great  result. 

One  of  the  elements  of  satisfaction  growing  out 
of  the  fact  of  the  Divine  judgment  is  this  :  the 
really  true  and  right-hearted,  who  were  maligned 
or  obscured  or  self-distrustful,  or  for  any  reason 
misconstrued,  will  come  forth  to  recognition  and 
honor,  while  those  who  wore  a  reputation  which 
was  not  deserved  will  wear  it  no  longer.  This  is 
the  point  which  our  Lord  himself  makes,  when  he 
represents  the  righteous  as  rewarded  for  minis- 
tering to  himself,  because  they  ministered  to  the 
least  of  his  disciples.  They  did  not  know  them- 
selves  what  he   discerned   in   them.      He   makes 


THE  JUDGMENT  A  SATISFACTION.  255 

the  same  disclosure,  when  he  transfers  Lazarus 
and  not  Dives  to  Abraham's  bosom.  Men  have 
often  lain  under  imputations  which  were  precisely 
the  opposite  of  their  deserts.  It  is  a  rare  and 
deep  pleasure,  after  that  has  been  going  on  for 
years,  to  have  the  real  state  of  the  case  disclosed. 
So  Mordecai  rode  forth — the  man  whom  the  King 
delighted  to  honor.  I  recall  the  satisfaction  which 
Jee  Gam,  our  Chinese  helper,  took  in  that  story,  in 
those  days  when  he  first  began  to  take  an  interest 
in  the  Bible.  His  face  brightened.  But  thai  sort 
of  satisfaction  must  be  common  in  the  day  when, 
as  St.  Paul  says,  "the  Lord  will  both  bring  to 
light  the  hidden  things  of  darkness  and  make 
manifest  the  counsels  of  the  hearts  ;  and  then 
shall  each  man  have  his  praise  from  God." 

Another  special  element  of  restfulness  will 
be  connected  with  the  judgment — the  Divine 
government  will  be  vindicated.  A  great  deal  of 
criticism  on  the  course  of  God  in  this  world  has 
been  indulged.  Clouds  and  darkness  lie  heavy 
even  about  the  mountain  summits  where  God  has 
revealed  himself  to  men.  Theologians  have 
attempted  to  reduce  the  weight  and  seriousness  of 
unanswered  questions.  They  have  made  many 
suppositions,  and  sometimes  the  suppositions  have 
produced   more   disquiet  than  they  have  allayed 


256  THE  JUDGMENT  A  SATISFACTION. 

Sometimes  men  say :  if  our  theory  of  what  God 
ought  to  do  and  will  do,  shall  be  accepted,  then 
God  may  be  the  good  being  he  is  said  to  be; 
otherwise  not.  There  is  a  security  which  sinks 
its  foundations  deeper  than  in  any  theory  of  ours. 
The  Saviour,  who  loved  us  and  died  for  us,  is  to 
determine  the  character,  and  so  the  destiny  of  all 
men.  We  may  be  sure  that  his  decision  will 
make  all  the  processes  of  the  Divine  government 
to  seem  just  and  good  from  the  beginning.  For 
let  us  remember  that  the  final  thing  in  the  God's 
revelation  of  himself  is  not  the  disclosure  of  his 
power,  but  of  his  judgment,  his  righteousness. 

The  dominant  impression,  then,  given  us  in  the 
Scriptures  as  regards  the  great  day,  is  not  that  it 
is  a  day  in  itself  to  be  dreaded.  As  far  as  it  is 
concerned,  it  is  intended  to  bring  to  light.  It 
should  be,  then,  the  fairest  and  brightest  of  all  the 
days  in  human  history.  This  is  eminently  the 
Christian  conception.  For,  says  John,  "  Herein  is 
love  made  perfect,  that  we  may  have  boldness  in 
the  day  of  judgment :  because  as  he  is,  so  are  we 
in  this  world.  There  is  no  fear  in  love."  For  love 
rests  in  the  integrity  and  grace  of  him  who  shall 
sit  upon  that  throne.  The  thing  to  be  feared  is  the 
impenitent,  ungrateful,  unappreciative,  unyielded 
heart  that  goes  forward  into  the  brightness  of  that 


THE  JUDGMENT  A   SATISFACTION.  257 

day.  It  is  evident  that  such  a  heart  cannot  be  bold 
there.  For,  how  true  are  those  other  familar 
words  ! — "  Every  one  that  doeth  ill  hateth  the  light 
and  Cometh  not  to  the  light,  lest  his  works  should 
be  reproved."  Is,  then,  the  light  hateful  ?  By  no 
means.  "  Truly,  the  light  is  sweet,  and  a  pleasant 
thing  it  is  for  the  eyes  to  behold  the  sun."  It  is 
only  the  wrong  will  that  changes  the  aspect. 
Even  the  rustling  of  a  leaf  has  been  said  to  bring 
terror  to  the  guilty  man.  But  what  harm  is  there 
in  the  rustling  of  the  leaf?  Some  of  our  hymns 
dwell  much  on  the  dread  character  of  the  final 
issues.  They  express  one  side  of  a  great  fact. 
They  tell  us  of  "  the  pomp  of  that  tremendous  day." 
But,  really,  the  tremendous  day  is  the  present. 
For  the  judgment  that  is  to  be  will  be  only  the 
disclosure  and  consummation  of  that  which  is 
taking  place  hour  by  hour. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 

STAMPED  BELOW 

Books  not  returned  on  time  are  subject  to  a  fine  of 
50c  per  volume  after  the  third  day  overdue,  increasing 
to  $1.00  per  volume  after  the  sixth  day.  Books  not  in 
demand  may  be  renewed  if  application  is  made  before 
expiration  of  loan  period. 


JUN25  1918 


50to-7.'1 


VB   1307 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


